All It Takes
by NeverMindDream
Summary: Sometimes a touch is all it takes, and then it consumes you till you have be satiated in the touch. DL I'm back! Here's 'Memory' thanks to all who had the patience to wait this long for an update!
1. Touch

**AN** Yes it's true here's another one…inspired by a number of fics I've been reading lately. I haven't forgotten my other D/L writings but this just forced me to write it so I did. As always, read and review…I live for it. lol

**Disclaimer:** Don't own them, wish I did…moving on.

* * *

**All It Takes  
**© Dream 2006

**Touch**

It is amazing what touch can do to a person. It has been said that babies thrive on it, actually needing it to survive. There are varying levels of touch and depending on who delivers it there are varying levels of reaction to touch.

Danny Messerand Lindsay Monroewere co-workers. Sometimes theywere partners on a case. Neither knew much about the other except that they were both very passionate about their jobs. Sometimes they clashed, sometimes they got a long, but for the most part they were indifferent to each other.

Until…they touched.

Not just any kind of touch either. The every day kind of accidental touch happened all the time, no this time it was different, this time something ignited in both of them that, it can be said, may not have ignited if they had not touched.

However let's not get ahead of ourselves.

* * *

Lindsay Monroe was finally starting to feel like she belonged in this lab. New York was so different from Bozeman which was a welcome change; she'd left for a reason. She liked the camaraderie at the lab and found that she fit in rather well, except…

"Hey Montana whatcha got?" Danny strode into the room like he always did, as if he owned it.

She sighed and rolled her eyes to look up at him, "You really have no intention of calling me by my name do you?"

He smirked, "It doesn't look like it."

"Fine," She sighed, "What I've got is absolutely nothing." She threw her hands up, "There isn't a fibre or hair on these clothes that is foreign."

"Well now that is odd," Danny mused, "The vic was definitely redressed, maybe she was dressed in something new after she was killed."

"It's possible. I haven't gone through her purse yet," Lindsay indicated the posh bag that was to her left, "I might find something in there."

"I'll call Flack and have him meet me at the scene," Danny said, "We'll comb around it and see if we can't find something else."

"Okay, keep me posted." She said without looking up as she carefully pulled out the contents of the purse and placed them on the table.

* * *

Four hours later she was exhausted but feeling a bit better. She had found a sticky substance on the inner lining of the purse and had sent it to trace. Lolling her head from side to side she closed her eyes. Her stomach growled at the same time as her phone rang. She looked at the number and smiled, "Hi there."

"I'm thinkin' it's about time you ate something." The voice on the other end said.

She smiled, "My stomach couldn't agree with you more."

"Well then I'll be waiting for you outside the lab in twenty minutes."

"See you then," She looked at her watch, yeah she could have everything cleaned up by then.

* * *

Flack and Danny were walking towards the lab building as Lindsay exited, "Woo hoo, you dress up real nice Montana."

Lindsay rolled her eyes at Danny, "Thanks pervert."

He feigned hurt, "See I try to compliment you and you shut me down."

"Someone's got to," She retorted.

Just then a guy, about 6'2" with light brown hair and broad well-built shoulders, got out of a vehicle, "Lindsay are you ready?" He asked.

She smiled at him, "Of course Jesse."

"O'Malley." Danny nodded at the off duty officer. He had never really had a problem with him but all of a sudden felt some contempt toward the guy. He wasn't sure why.

Jesse nodded back politely at the two men, "Detectives." Flack just smirked and watched them; the looks they were giving each other reminded him of jungle cats circling each other for the same prey.

Lindsay instantly felt uncomfortable for some reason and just wanted to leave. She smiled at Danny and Flack, "I'll see you guys later," Then just as she was about to step toward the vehicle Danny grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. "What the hell?" She exclaimed feeling a breeze whiz by her.

"Watch it!" Flack called loudly in the direction of the breeze, "I swear those bike messenger are a damn hazard."

Danny had an arm around her waist and his hand on her arm, "You okay?"

Everything was foggy, it sounded like water was rushing through her ears. Her whole body was up against his side and her hand was on his stomach. She forced herself to ignore how fast her heart was beating, "Uh, yeah, yeah I'm fine."

They didn't move just stood there looking at each other. Then Jesse cleared his throat, he had made his way around his car and put a hand out to Lindsay, "Thanks Messer."

Reality hit them both and they stepped away from each other. Danny cleared his throat, "Right, yeah, no problem."

Lindsay took Jesse's hand and allowed him to lead her to his car. She got her seatbelt on and stared straight ahead desperately willing the blood to stop rushing through her ears and her heart to stop beating so fast.

Danny watched Jesse shut the passenger door and regarded Lindsay's profile. His mouth felt dry and his head was swimming. He could still feel her fingers on his stomach, why? His phone rang jarring him out of his reverie; he put it to his ear as Jesse's car pulled into traffic. "Messer."

"Hey baby."

He frowned in spite of himself, wait, hadn't he been waiting for her call all day? He forced a smile and continued walking with Flack into the building, "Cindy hi."

"Are you done work yet?" She asked.

He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, "Almost, give me an hour kay?"

"Okay, don't be late I miss you."

"Yeah, yeah, me too, see you in an hour." He hung up the phone and looked at Flack, "Sorry."

Flack regarded his friend, "Where did you meet her again?"

"Who?" Danny asked as he subconsciously crossed an arm over his stomach, when would the feeling of her fingers leave?

"Cindy," Flack said with a smirk, "Your girlfriend? The chick on the phone?"

"Since when has Lindsay been out with Jesse O'Malley?" Danny asked instead of answering.

Flack shrugged, "Hell if I know, lab gossip always goes over my head. Why do you care?"

"I don't," Danny said a bit too quickly for comfort, "I was just wondering." He didn't care, did he? Why would he, he had a girlfriend, it shouldn't matter. It didn't matter of course, he had just been up too long and was tired. Yeah that was it; after he saw Cindy tonight everything would be fine.

* * *

Lindsay had been dating Jesse O'Malley for over a month now. She hadn't thought it was pertinent to share that bit of information with the lab; it was her own private business after all. They had met at the precinct after she had interrogated a suspect. There was nothing fantastic about their relationship, they got along and enjoyed each others company. It was comforting and simple; she enjoyed that, didn't she? Then why couldn't she get the feel of Danny's taught stomach out of her mind?

* * *

There's something about touch that just affects people in a way that is impossible to explain. A mother's soft touch on her baby's skin, the rough touch of brothers as they play fight, the inadvertent touch of two co-workers who had no idea they would react to each other.

* * *

**AN** My plan is to incorporate a theme for each chapter...we'll see how well I do at that. Let me know what ya thought.


	2. Thoughts

**AN** There isn't an actual D/L moment in this chapter…but bare with me…I'm getting there…this is more about their inner turmoil. You know R&R still though…ahaha Thanks so much to all who have already done so! I guess this chapter is rated higher for some suggestive conntent.

* * *

**Thoughts**

The mind has this way of forcing us to remember. People want to think that if they try hard enough they can control the functioning of their mind, but they're wrong. Sure for a time one can force oneself to forget a moment, a memory, a touch, but the mind won't let it be forgotten forever.

No matter how hard a person tries, thoughts will overcome…eventually.

* * *

"You are a million miles away," Jesse observed as he removed Lindsay's coat and hung it on a hook in his apartment. 

She smiled at him, "I'm sorry the case I've been working has me completely confused." That was a lie pure and simple; her mind was stuck on that moment when her body had slammed into Danny's. She couldn't shake the thought from her head and it was driving her just a bit nuts.

He put his hands on her shoulders and started massaging her lightly, "You work with Messer a lot?" He asked.

Her eyes had been closed but they opened slowly as she went over to his couch and sat down, "It's infrequent, depends on Mac, why?" If she kept casual about it hopefully Jesse wouldn't pick up on it. It's not like it meant anything anyway, maybe she was just having a highly hormonal day.

"I dunno," Jesse shrugged, "I've just heard about him."

"Heard what?" She was curious, but not really sure why. If Danny had a reputation what difference did it make to her?

"He's a bit of a hot head," Jesse explained joining her on the couch, "Had an incident last year sometime, there's speculation he shot an undercover cop and female rookies seem to like that bad boy thing he has going on."

Lindsay burst out laughing, "Bad boy thing? Danny?" He always seemed slightly geeky to her, although if she thought about it she could see where people got that image. Of course she shouldn't be thinking about it, because that image really made her feel warm.

"You don't see it?" Jesse had to admit he was feeling a bit of relief.

"See what; whenever I'm with him we're processing a scene or talking about a case, it's not necessarily time for bad boy moments. Besides I haven't heard a thing about him playin' rookies." Mainly because she had been a rookie, kinda still was and for some reason would feel insulted if he hadn't tried to play her. Wait, why? There was no reason why she should want Danny Messer to be anything but her co-worker.

"Ah the rookies just like him is all, I haven't heard of him dating inside PD." Jesse put an arm up behind Lindsay.

She curled into the crook of his arm and laughed, "Do you spend a lot of time gossiping about who dates who within the department?" Yeah that's it; keep it light, maybe then her heart would slow down.

"No, just those guys that work around my girl," Jesse wrapped the arm around her, "Had to make sure no one would steal you away from me."

She wasn't all that comfortable being called 'his girl' but she let it slide as a term of endearment. "Well I can assure you Danny hasn't tried to do anything with me," This shouldn't disappoint her but now all of a sudden it did. What was wrong with her? Jesse was way more her type than Danny; she'd never dated someone described as a 'hot head' before. They weren't usually safe, she tended to like safe. Didn't she?

Jesse voiced her thought, "Ah you probably aren't his type anyway." He tilted her chin up to look at him, "You're way too sweet for a guy like Messer."

She forced herself to smile at him, "Yeah, too sweet." She said then let him kiss her, hoping that Jesse's touch would wash away the images of Danny's blue eyes staring down at her and the feeling of her body pushed up against his.

* * *

"Wow," Cindy lay back still panting, "I love it when you have pent up aggression." 

He didn't say anything just flipped himself onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He was somewhat amazed at his ability to perform anything with his mind wandering in all sorts of directions it shouldn't. Cindy was supposed to be distracting him and it hadn't worked.

Aw hell, Lindsay's deep chocolate brown eyes looking up at him when he'd pulled her away from the bike messenger's path were devouring his subconscious. Damnit.

He could feel Cindy leave his bed and for the first time actually thought about it. Up until then he hadn't minded, they'd served a purpose for each other, just sleeping together created fights over blankets and uncomfortable morning conversation. He liked his girlfriends to be there at night and be gone by morning; Cindy preferred it that way too, so it was a win win situation. Oh sure they had fun together, although he had to admit she talked way too much, half the time he was just thinking of ways to shut her up.

Why in gawd's name was he mentally comparing Cindy to Lindsay? Right away he knew that Lindsay wasn't the type to crawl out of bed, dress in the dark and leave. She'd probably be the type to curl into his arms and stay there. He hated that sort of thing, didn't he? Well it didn't matter; she was his co-worker anyway, what she did with her boyfriends made no difference to him. As long as he didn't have to hear about it of course, those kinds of mental images he did not need.

Okay so how come he didn't think a morning conversation would be awkward with her.

Stop it, stop thinking about it Messer!

"Bye baby." Oh right, Cindy was there.

He raised himself up on his elbows and ran a hand over his face barely making out her frame in the dark he mumbled, "Bye."

He waited until he heard the click of his front door then padded through his apartment behind her and locked it. Most of the time he was half asleep when he did that, the thought never crossing his mind to give her a key, he didn't trust that she wouldn't come over to his place when he wasn't home. Falling face first onto his bed he sighed into his pillow. "Get outta my head Montana." He said into the empty room then rolled over and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

Both of them, at the same moment that night, made a vow never to think about that touch ever again. They were unfortunately under the guise that they could control their subconscious thought. That possibly that if they pretended something didn't exist than perhaps it wouldn't. However, thinking like that is highly improbable, because a touch that ignites that kind of chemistry so instantly sticks to the subconscious mind like molasses on a cold day. 


	3. Chemistry

**AN** I would like to take this time to whole heartedly thank **hogwartsalumni** for helping me with the details of the case that Danny and Lindsay are working on. You are a life saver girl! So read on and let me know if you like it…cause as always I'm lovin' the reviews! lol

* * *

**Chemistry**

Most chemistry has to do with actual chemicals. When a person thinks about chemistry they are usually brought back to a high school classroom where they did experiments over Bunsen burners.

Some chemistry has to do with a lot more than chemicals and it is this chemistry that plagued the thoughts of Danny Messer and Lindsay Monroe. That one touch, that one moment, ignited a chemistry between them that they were finding very difficult to deny.

* * *

Lindsay had just got a call from Mac and was hurrying down the hall to his office. She rounded a corner and slammed into someone. This someone had a hard body who instinctively wrapped an arm around her to steady her.

This was someone who made the blood rush through her ears and her heart pound a mile a minute. She put her hands up to his chest but for some reason did not step out of his grip, "My goodness I'm sorry Danny." Mercy did she desperately want to know what he felt like…she mentally stopped that thought process before it made her cheeks redden any more than they already were.

He had dropped a bunch of files but he didn't even notice it. He just looked down at her and licked his lips in spite of himself, "No problem Lindsay." He said hoarsely then forced himself to step back and clear his throat, "Although I'd advise checking before rounding a corner like that, Zach was just pushing some stomach contents down this hallway and that woulda been nasty."

She laughed nervously and squatted down to pick up the files he had dropped. She handed them to him and couldn't help but noticed when their fingers touched briefly. This was getting altogether way too ridiculous, "Well then I guess it's a good thing it was you."

"Yeah," He smiled at her, "I guess it was." Why did he notice the way her head tilted to the side and her lips turn up slightly as she regarded him? Had she always done that? He wasn't sure, but now it was very apparent and he found he liked it, for some dumb reason.

She licked her lips, what kind of blue were his eyes? Oh no wait, she didn't care, she wasn't going to think about this. She blinked, "Anyway I have a meeting with Mac that I should attend to."

He nodded, "Me too, I'll walk with you." He fell into step with her and couldn't help but realize that their arms were close enough that he could feel the material of her jacket but not close enough to be considered touching. Why he noticed that could be added to the barrage of questions that had circled his mind as of late.

She silently agreed and walked with him. She wanted to say something but for some reason her mind could only focus on the movement of her body, which she strangely noticed was in sync with his.

They were already in Mac's office when she realized he'd called her Lindsay.

"Hey I just got called into court so I need to pass this case on to you." Mac explained, "It's a hit and run, suspicious circs, I've already been to the crime scene and collected the evidence. I'll have them delivered here to my office for you two to look over. Right now I need you to meet up with Dr. Hammerback, he's processing the body."

They both nodded taking the obvious air of professionalism needed at that point. Danny accepted the file Mac handed him, "As always give reports to you?"

Mac nodded, "Yeah I'll keep my phone on vibrate so you can send me anything new, I'll meet up with you after I testify."

"Right," Lindsay agreed then turned to leave with Danny. She looked at him as they headed out to the morgue, "Who's the vic?"

Danny read over the file out loud as they entered the elevator. Both opted to stand at opposite ends of the empty car, because internally they didn't trust being close together. "Thessaly Martin, 26, a marketing exec appears to have been run down while jogging."

Without thinking Lindsay walked over and took the file from him and examined the pictures of the body at the scene, "Weird, look at her injuries," She pointed.

He leaned in and looked over her shoulder trying not to think about how subtly good she smelled, "Hmm, it looks like she was hit head on, that's odd, who stands still while someone is coming at you?"

His breath hit her neck while he was speaking and her entire body reacted, it was driving her insane. The bell of the elevator couldn't have rang at a better time, "I guess we'll have to talk to the Doc about all her injuries first."

Indicating with his hand he agreed with her, "After you." He was a professional damnit, if it killed him he was going to be professional around her even though every part of him reacted on over drive whenever he was within three feet of her.

"Mac passed the case off to you?" Dr. Sid Hammerback asked as the two joined him with the body.

"Got called into court," Danny explained, "What have you got?"

"Well there are a few things that are typical with a hit and run vic," He started, "She has a sizeable head wound with glass shards in it, I sent a sample to trace, it's probably from impact with the windshield. There are grill marks on the front of her legs, impact shattered her kneecaps and I think I have an impression here of part of a license plate," He pulled the light closer and indicated an area on one of her thighs.

Lindsay leaned in to look, "Isn't that a bit high for a car license plate?"

Danny leaned over her to look as well, "Probably an SUV of some kind." He said into her ear, it was sort of accidental and sort of to see what kind of reaction she'd give him.

She tried not to audibly gasp, this was the second time in a few minutes that his breath had elicited a reaction and it frustrated her. She mentally reminded herself that she was with Jesse and she liked that! She stood and ended up hitting his chest lightly with her back, because he was so close to her. "Sorry," She mumbled but kept looking at him, what was up with those eyes of his?

He looked at her and smiled in an effort to keep it light, "No prob." Oh she really needed to not lick her lips; this was insane he could see her cheeks blush. What the hell was going on?

Dr. Hammerback observed them both stand up again and having been around many different kinds of people in his day he could see the chemistry between them, even though he was well aware they were denying it. He cleared his throat, "COD is interesting."

They snapped out of it and looked back at him, "What was it?" Danny asked trying his best to be nonchalant. He could tell this was gonna be a long case, not because of the case itself, but because for some reason this woman was working her way into his head and he couldn't stop it.

"Well her death could have been prevented if she hadn't been moved," He said lifting the sheet to show them the road burn on her side, "She dislocated her left shoulder and these road rash marks on her left side here which makes me think she landed on her side."

Danny opened up the file they had, "She was found on her back though and the paramedics didn't move the body when they realized she was already dead."

Lindsay looked at the doctor, "So the suspect probably moved her to see if she was still alive."

"Well if that happened they didn't know what to look for, because she was still alive when she was moved," Hammerback said gravely, "Her cause of death was," He paused, "she aspirated on her own blood."

After a bit they thanked the doctor and headed back up to Mac's office where the evidence he had collected was going to be, "It doesn't make sense." Lindsay mused. "It appears as though she stood in front of the vehicle and waited for impact, then whoever hit her came out, turned her over and then left her to die."

Danny sighed and leaned his head back against the wall of the elevator, "I have yet to see a hit and run that makes sense."

She watched him with his eyes closed and mentally had to stop herself from enjoying it. This was getting ridiculous, they were co-workers and could not be anything but friends and they weren't even that. She'd lost track of the amount of times she's thought that in the last few weeks. She tried to force herself to think that he was a guy she worked with, who for some reason happened to make her body react whenever he was in the same area as her. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

He opened his eyes to look at her and forced himself not to think about how soft her hair looked or wonder if it would get slightly curly when it was wet. What was he doing? This was Montana for gawd sakes; she wasn't even his type anyway. Although his body seemed to whole heartedly disagree.

* * *

Chemistry between two people can't be faked and it apparently can't be controlled. Scientifically one can explain many chemical reactions, but science has yet to explain why one touch can ignite such a reaction in two people who desperately do not want to react to each other. 


	4. Time

**AN** So it took me a bit longer than usual and I got a bit of inspiration from this week's ep. I hope you find this to your liking, more to come and as always read and review:)

* * *

**Time**

Time is relative. Almost everyone on the planet has a reaction to time. Some because they do not care to acknowledge it and others because it consumes them, however most will agree that time rarely goes by the way we want.

Take for example the time it takes to go over a number of files for a case. The time it takes to pour over the information, the necessity to organize one's time around the examination and study of the evidence.

The amount of time two people have to sit and desperately ignore the pent up…something, that has been consuming them.

* * *

Danny's eyes were blurring together, he'd poured over pictures of the crime scene while reading and rereading Mac's notes. He looked up and regarded his partner who was looking through some of the interviews Flack had conducted at the scene. She had a pen gently pushed onto her bottom lip that was pursed slightly as she read.

He had never wanted to be a pen so badly in his life.

He shook his head; he refused to be jealous of an inanimate object, but then watched enthralled as she rolled it back and forth over her lip. Dear Lord this was slow torture.

Looking back down at the crime scene photos he cracked his neck and sighed. He needed to move and just be out of her presence, or aura, or whatever it was about Lindsay Monroe that made his mind swim. "I'm gonna go see if Hammerback has cleaned the impression around the license plate imprint." He said.

She looked up at him then rifled through a box and passed him a couple of bags, "Mac found some paint transfer and what looks like headlight glass on the vic's clothes, you can use that in your search for the vehicle."

He smirked, "Oh is that what I volunteered to do?" He watched fascinated as she took the pen that had been sitting on her lip and twisted it in her hair so that it was piled up on the top of her head. Damn pen.

She nodded with a smirk of her own, "Yup, I'm gonna start processing her clothes and purse before…" Her phone rang as she spoke. "Hi it's Lindsay." She answered, then groaned, "Oh damn I'm sorry Jesse," She looked at her watch, "Yeah I know I should have been off an hour ago…I," She sighed, "Right, I'll be there as soon as I can." She hung up the phone.

"Change of plans?" Danny asked trying desperately not to act too curious as well as too pleased that she had been spending time with him when she should have been with O'Malley. It didn't matter that it had been for work and that they had hardly exchanged two words most of the time, she had been with him. Oh wait, he wasn't supposed to care about things like that.

She stood and ran a hand over her face, "I was supposed to meet him half an hour ago, I'm meeting his sister and her husband tonight." She sighed and started putting the files away, "Damnit."

Danny closed his eyes, he didn't want to do what he was gonna do next. What he wanted to do was just watch her act flustered because he found it all kinds of sexy for some reason. Instead he put a hand to her arm, "Don't worry about it I'll clean this up, you can process her clothes in the morning."

The skin underneath his hand was burning up so much Lindsay was sure her arm was going to catch fire. A few tendrils of her hair fell into her face as she looked up at him with a grateful expression, "Really? You don't mind?" If she were a poetic kind of person she'd describe his eyes as pools of blue that she wanted to swim in forever.

"Well," He smiled, "You'll owe me." He wished to high heaven that she could repay him in a way that was highly inappropriate for their working relationship. He bit his lip in an effort to quell that thought.

She nodded, inwardly wishing he wouldn't bite his lip like that, "You got it," She walked passed him and put her hand up on his chest and shoulder, "Thanks Danny."

He had to mentally stop himself from outwardly groaning. This was insane; it was just her hand for the love of god! He merely kept smiling and stepped away from her touch, "You're welcome, now go or you'll be even later."

She snapped out of her trance, "Right, see you tomorrow." She called over her shoulder as she left to quickly freshen up in the locker room. When she got to her locker she had to lean against it for a moment to get her heart to start beating normally again, it rarely did when she was around him. It never did when she touched him. She closed her eyes and told herself that she had to stop thinking about Danny Messer and focus on her boyfriend. Jesse deserved her full attention and damnit if he didn't need something to make up for her being so late.

It took Danny a full minute before he moved again, if her fingers on his stomach had made him think before, her full hand on his chest made it worse. What was it about her that made him desperate to know what her skin felt like against his? He shook his head, don't go there Messer, she's off limits for more than one reason.

He debated calling Cindy on his way back to the morgue but decided against it. She had been getting on his nerves lately. She had lasted a bit longer than most of his girlfriends and was getting to the point that always made him uncomfortable, that point where he either coped out or became vulnerable.

It wasn't a difficult decision; he would start avoiding her at that moment.

Dr. Hammerback handed Danny a memory card when the CSI arrived at the morgue, "What you read minds in your spare time?"

Hammerback grinned, "Wouldn't you be embarrassed if I did?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

The implications of that question was too much for Danny to delve into, besides the Doc was always, well, weird. He changed the subject, "Are these the shots of that impression on her thigh?"

The doctor nodded, "Make of it what you will."

Tapping the memory card to his hand Danny smirked, "Oh I'll get something out of it I can be very persuasive."

"I've noticed." Hammerback quipped as he turned around. "Although I don't think it'd take much persuasion for her."

Danny stared at the back of the man's head. What in the world did that mean? He was almost at the point of asking, but most of him was afraid to know. He couldn't mean Lindsay could he? He didn't want to persuade Lindsay to do anything; she was just a co-worker after all.

Damn, how many times was he going to remind himself of that?

He worked three hours overtime before he finally made his way back home. His car had been giving him problems so he'd been taking the subway for a week now. Heading to the back where he always stood he looked down at his phone as it vibrated in his hand. He rolled his eyes, so it began, that was the fourth time Cindy had called. He pocketed the phone and leaned back against the cool glass, maybe if he gave it time Lindsay would work her way out of his mind.

* * *

Lindsay shifted uneasily in the cab on the way to meet Jesse. At this rate they had been waiting for her for a full hour. She was wringing her hands. What was going on? She'd never lost track of time like that, even if the case was the most important to her career she'd never blown off someone she cared about for work before. Why was this different?

After spending a lot of time with him she'd noticed a few things. He'd let his tongue sit on his bottom lip when he concentrated. He flipped his pen between his fingers as he read through files. There was always a furrow in his brow when he'd analyse crime scene photos. It was almost like, however much he tried to act jaded his job still affected him. She found she admired that about Danny…

Oh, that's why it was different.

Damn, why did this have to happen now? She was comfortable with Jesse, he understood the importance of her job and was content just sitting around spending time with her when they could. He was safe and warm and predictable, everything Danny Messer wasn't. She was gonna be content with Jesse O'Malley if it was the last thing she did.

If she just gave it time it'd blow over, this was a stupid little crush and nothing more. She adjusted her hair and plastered her most apologetic smile on her face. She knew how to win Jesse back into her good graces. She liked that, not much spontaneity.

Wait, did she like that?

* * *

Time heals all wounds. Time ticks away. It is easy to forget, if you just give it time. What if what you are trying to forget is embedded into your very system? What if no matter how much time you spend forgetting their touch just won't leave your memory?

Over time something can become obsolete and it can also grow to something that can't be ignored and isn't going to go away.


	5. Perception

**AN** So it's escalating some…I hope it's still interesting…I plan to incorporate some stuff from 'Risk' just cause I like aligning this with the show…cause I'm weird. Anyway, let me know if you liked, if you didn't like, if you hated…R&R D:)

* * *

**Perception**

Perception is relative to an individual. One can look at a something and see it quite different than another. Sometimes our perception is skewed by atmosphere and conditions; other times it can be affected by circumstances beyond anyone's control.

One person can look at a situation and think one thing while yet another person views the same situation in a completely different light. Most of the time, those involved in the situation have the skewed view while the observer is closer to the truth.

* * *

"Thessaly has a grandma." Danny tapped the file onto the side of the door. He almost hadn't wanted to disturb her because he liked the way little pieces of her hair fell across her face as she poured over the evidence.

Lindsay looked up and tried not to enjoy how causally he leaned against the frame of the door that ever present smirk plastered nicely across his face, "Congratulations you've cracked the case not many people have one of those."

He shook his head and laughed then entered the room and made his way around the table to lean against it right beside Lindsay, "You're a funny woman, Montana. What I meant is, she had a grandma who happens to be the registered owner of a Tahoe that matches the transfer we found on the vic and has a license plate that matches the impression on the vic's thigh."

"Oh," She took the file from him and read the grandma's info, "That kind of grandma."

"Looks like we get to go visiting," He said.

She nodded, "Lead the way." He smiled at her in a way that gave her instant goosebumps, she licked her lips involuntarily and walked passed him out of the room.

It amused him that he could get a reaction out of her without even trying; it also frightened him because he really didn't want to be aware of that with Lindsay Monroe. She had to remain neutral or he was frankly terrified that he'd do something catastrophically stupid.

"Granny's got a nice vehicle," Lindsay observed as she got out of the car at rather nice house.

Danny walked over to the front of it, "And it apparently has come in contact with something recently." He squatted down and looked at the front grill, "I think we have blood."

"Now why would she run over her granddaughter and leave the evidence in plain view like that?" Lindsay was curious as she leaned down to look.

He turned to face her and found himself inches from her face. He licked his lips, "I guess uh, we should," He cleared his throat, "Ask Granny."

She blinked, move Monroe, her brain screamed at her but she couldn't do it. She just stared at him and desperately fought with the urge to kiss him. They were working for gawd sakes. Why wasn't he moving? He should be completely turned off by her proximity and he didn't look like he was. Oh no Danny, she pleaded in her head, don't do this.

Granny saved the day, "Can I help you two with something?"

Both CSI's stood slowly trying not to make eye contact with each other, both wondering what it was that got them in these situations so much lately.

Danny recovered first; he moved his coat aside to reveal his badge, "Are you Gladys Martin m'am?"

She nodded, "Well you know who I am handsome, who are you?"

He smirked, was this woman flirting with him, she had to be close to 75! He extended his hand, "I'm Danny Messer and this is my partner Lindsay Monroe we're from the crime lab, we're investigating your granddaughter's death."

She shook his hand warmly and looked at Lindsay, "You're a lucky woman Miss. Monroe if I were fifty years younger I'd give you some competition." The information that one of her granddaughters was dead didn't seem to register to the woman.

Lindsay's eyes widened as she realized what the older woman was implying, she could hear Danny chuckle next to her. She averted the attention from the implication, "If we could have a moment of your time we'd like to ask you a few questions m'am."

"Would you like some tea?" The woman asked as she turned to go back into her home.

Danny ventured a look at Lindsay and winked, "Looks like we're going for tea."

"Does she seem slightly senile to you?" Lindsay asked quietly as she walked passed him into the house.

"Now why would you ask that?" He said into her ear.

She jumped, "Stop doing that." She wasn't a poetic person she really wasn't, but his breath frankly left chilled flesh in its wake as it cascaded down her neck.

He looked at her as innocently as possible, "Stop doing what?"

She raised an eyebrow but then turned her attention to what they were there to do, "Mrs. Martin is that your vehicle out in the driveway?"

The older woman was bustling around the kitchen putting water on and grabbing mugs she nodded while she works, "I bought it for my granddaughters."

"Thessaly has a sister?" Danny asked.

"Candace," The woman said, "a year apart, I've raised them since their mother died." She stopped working and frowned as she leaned on the counter, "She's locked herself in her room, said she didn't mean to."

Danny and Lindsay exchanged a look between each other, "Is Candace home?" Lindsay asked carefully.

"Now see my husband and I used to do that," She was all of a sudden smiling at the two of them, "Speak to each other with just a look, friends used to say it took a special connection to do that." She chuckled, "Although more often than not when we were looking at each other we weren't thinking anything proper."

Lindsay's eyes widened again and this time so did Danny's, what was wrong with this woman? He cleared his throat, "Uh, m'am, could you answer my partner's question please?"

"I'm sorry," She shook her head slowly, "Candace? She's up in her room, hasn't come out for awhile."

Danny nodded at Lindsay; they both brushed aside the woman's comments about them and focused on their work. She followed him up the stairs, both of them had their guns drawn; they came to a room the name 'Candace' was on the door, "Candace?" Danny called as he knocked lightly.

After no answer he knocked again, this time Lindsay tried, "It's the NYPD, Candace we want to talk to you." She called.

Still nothing, Danny nodded at Lindsay who put her gun up as he slowly turned the handle of the door and swung it open. The smell hit them like a wave; instinctively they both put the back of their hands up to their noses.

Both of them holstered their guns, Danny called it in while Lindsay went over to the side of the bed to examine the empty pill bottles that were placed on top of a hand written note. She read a few of the words, "I think we've found the driver that killed Thessaly." She said quietly.

Clipping his phone shut he looked at her sadly, "Coroner's on the way, does she give a reason?" He indicated the note Lindsay was skimming.

Lindsay turned to look at him with a blank expression, "Thessaly borrowed Candace's favourite shirt without asking."

He shook his head, "I don't think I'll ever understand people."

* * *

They both stood in Mac's office on the other side of his desk relaying their findings.

"Fingerprints on the steering wheel came back to Candace the sister," Danny said, "Grandma remembers hearing them fight on the morning of Thessaly's death."

Lindsay added, "The handwriting on the suicide note matches the exemplar we got from Candace's drivers license. Thessaly borrowed Candace's shirt without asking then stained it and wasn't remorseful enough so Candace followed Thessaly on her run."

Danny picked up where Lindsay left off, "The note goes on to say that apparently their disagreement escalated to them squaring off in the park, Candace hit the gas pedal too hard and accidentally hit Thessaly. She turned her over but was freaked out by the blood so she fled."

"She opted for death saying," Lindsay looked down at the note, "She wanted to apologise to Thessaly in person."

Danny sighed, "Grandma was so out of it she insisted we leave her at the home so she could wait for Thessaly to come home."

They didn't mention the fact that the older woman kept referring to them as a couple even going so far as to tell them why they 'matched'. It had been highly uncomfortable for both of them and it certainly didn't help either of them with the thought processes that had been plaguing them both over the last few weeks.

Mac shook his head, "Sisters fighting over clothing ends in both of them dead. Okay, write up your reports and have them on my desk as soon as possible."

They left his office quietly, "I don't get it," Danny finally said, "It was just a shirt."

Lindsay shrugged and sighed, "I guess it's all a matter of perception."

* * *

To perceive something is easy you just have to watch. It's a lot harder to be perceived, especially when those perceiving you observe what you are trying to hide.

Now both of them knew they had an affect on the other, and this knowledge was working its way into their psyche like slow running molten lava. And there was one thing highly frightening about lava, it's extremely hot.


	6. Heat

**AN** Thank you SOO much to **hogwartsalumni** for being my beta on this and helping me with some plot points…oh and pushing me to write that last bit. ;)

**Spoilers:** This takes some scenes from the episode 'Risk' that was just aired. There are spoilers from the episode just in case you all want to avoid that sort of thing. And I can't take credit for all the dialogue because some of it is from the ep.

Okay enough talking, read and review already. Dream:)

* * *

**Heat**

You can't help but feel it, it burns the skin. It causes one to feel the need to shed clothing in an effort to find reprieve from it. We seek out heat when we are cold; we crave it in a way that needs to be fulfilled.

Sometimes when heat is ignited into flame it can't be avoided and it spreads like the wildfire it is. Sometimes it is best to quench it because the heat shouldn't exist to begin with and if consumed, could burn the innocent.

* * *

Danny was frustrated, in more ways than one. He was coming up against a brick wall with a solo case he'd been working on. He hadn't been near a date since Cindy and Lindsay seemed to be everywhere he turned. If karma existed it had something against Danny Messer. 

He rounded a corner frowning at the results of the trace that Adam had just given him. He glanced up and instantly wished he hadn't. Lindsay was leaving the lab with Jesse. She had on a black trench coat that covered the dress she had to be wearing, but he couldn't help but notice how shapely her calves looked in the heels she had on. She didn't see him but Jesse did, the man smiled smugly and put an arm around Lindsay as they entered the elevator.

Danny licked his lips, he didn't care of course, and he was too tired to do anything anyway. He put the file he had been reading away and checked his watch, if he gave himself another two hours with the evidence he'd allow himself to go home. Because you know, that's what he did, went to work and went home. He silently wondered where Lindsay had been going with Jesse dressed up like that.

* * *

Lindsay briefly saw Danny go down the hall as Jesse guided her into the elevator. He looped his arm around her neck in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. She gently took his hand and placed his arm around her waist then smiled up at him, "Why are you frowning?" She asked lightly. 

"I don't like that guy," Jesse murmured.

Lindsay's heart leapt frantically, she was not going to have this conversation, again. It had become repetitious in the last few weeks; Jesse had become obsessed with the amount of time she spent with Danny, even ifit was only at work. Jesse was constantly telling her what he'd found out about Danny and the different women he dated. She tried to reason with him that it was someone she worked with, that's it. She tried to reason that with herself as well, but she wasn't about to tell Jesse that.

Lindsay sighed, "Please, I want to enjoy this evening." She also wanted to put Danny Messer out of her mind for at the very least a 12 hour period.

Looking down at her he relented and smiled, "You're right," He squeezed her side, "You'll love the opera."

She smiled back at him and leaned into him, while she loved dressing up she really wasn't sure if opera was her thing but Jesse really wanted to take her and she had been feeling guilty lately in regards to her thoughts about Danny and the time she spent at work. So she agreed to go.

* * *

He hadn't intended to extend his shift to an eighteen hour one, it had just happened. He'd found some new evidence when he'd looked it over again and had to go back to the body and then the crime scene. By the time he finally made it onto the subway he could almost taste the cold beer he had waiting for him at home. 

He wondered what Lindsay was doing at that moment and wished that he had been able to see what she was wearing. He looked over the subway car and sighed. He noticed her then, a pretty girl sitting in close proximity to him. She smiled shyly at him and instinctively he smiled at her then licked his lips and looked out the window to the tracks. If Lindsay can go on dates than maybe he could…wait…what was that?

* * *

Jesse gave Lindsay an annoyed glance, he felt her bag buzzing and they were just in the second act. She shrugged apologetically and looked at the text message. It was from Mac: _DB on the subway, meet me there._

She leaned in a whispered, "I'm sorry I have to go."

Jesse's look was incredulous he followed her down the aisle of the opera house fuming as he went. Once they were in the foyer he spat, "Let me guess, Messer called."

Lindsay shook her head at him, "No Mac did, you remember Mac Taylor, my boss."

"How much you want to bet Messer's there?" Jesse complained.

She was slowly but surely getting damned annoyed with this, whatever conflicting feelings she had there was no need for him to be childish, "He works in the lab with me Jesse, so yeah he might be there. I'm very sorry that someone dare get murdered when you want to watch the opera!" She stormed out of the foyer and hailed a cab.

He followed her, "Lindsay wait, wait!" His voice was softer; he gently put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, listen that wasn't fair," He inhaled and pushed down his jealousy, "I just want to spend time with my girl."

She smiled hesitantly at him and lightly kissed his cheek, "I'll call you when I can." She looked up at him when he shut the cab door and closed her eyes, this was too much. It was getting to the point where she was seriously thinking about what her feelings actually were for Jesse.

Danny could take a backseat to that for the time being.

Except that he didn't stay in that backseat nicely. She approached the scene tentatively all of a sudden acutely aware of the fact that she was in a dress and Danny had never seen her in a dress.

He felt her before he saw her; it was like her very essence just consumed him once she got down there. He looked over his shoulder and his breath caught in his throat. He did a double take, hot damn. So that's what had been under that coat. With Mac in a tux having been to that mayor's function he felt very underdressed.

He couldn't even help the smile that jumped onto his face. "Well hello Miss Monroe, wow, you clean up nice. You go to that mayor's party also?" Please let it be something as simple as that. He watched the smile dance onto her face at his compliment and really liked it.

Mac was there so she couldn't push Danny up against the wall like she instinctively wanted to. Wait, that's not what she wanted to do, he really needed to stop being so appealing and definitely NOT compliment her. She managed to keep her smile demure, although she wasn't sure how, "I was at the opera."

Damn, of course O'Malley would take her somewhere cultured. Danny had taken an old girlfriend to the opera once, he didn't get it. He quipped, "I am hangin' out with all the wrong people ya know that?" Mainly because he didn't want her to think that he couldn't be sophisticated, although why did that matter? O'Malley was more her type anyway, oh right, the case. He really needed to sleep.

She got straight to work, and really wasn't enjoying how the conversation would go with Jesse when he found out that Danny was on this case with her.

* * *

As predicted Jesse had been sullen about the whole thing and as a sort of revenge took three extra shifts at work that week so she hardly saw him. Which unfortunately didn't matter because the few days that they were on the subway case sort of took her over, she hardly went home except to sleep. 

After Mac went to arrest the conductor Lindsay met up with Danny in the locker room. He was sitting on the bench in front of the lockers with his head in his hands. She smiled, "I'm sure that's comfortable, but don't you wanna go home?"

He cocked his head to the side and smirked at her, "You offering to take me?"

She licked her lips and stepped past him to open her locker mentally refusing to flirt with him, "Why don't you go find that college girl? She looked like she wanted to eat you with a spoon."

He chuckled and yawned, "Right, cause I wanna be tied to a bed and spanked with a paddle."

"I don't want to know about your fetishes Messer," She said and shuddered but more out of intrigue than revulsion. She could feel the tension building in the room, many warning signs were screaming in her head.

He stood, "If I were to admit any, which I'm not, spanking isn't it." He found he loved how he could get the colour to rise in her cheeks so easily.

She turned to face him when he stood and for the second time found herself inches from his face. She could feel his breath hit her, "I, uh, wasn't, umm," She just stared, "asking."

Before he could stop himself he put a hand on either side of her waist effectively pinning her against the locker, "Aren't you curious?" He whispered.

She arched her back without even thinking about it and closed her eyes, she really, really needed to move away from this situation or she was going to do something insanely stupid, but he felt so good that close to her that it took all her self control not to reach out and touch him cause she knew if she did her resolve would be lost.

He watched her close her eyes and could feel her body arch itself so close to his they were almost touching. This was torture; he should just throw caution to the wind and kiss her within an inch of her life. But this was wrong; the wrong timing, the wrong circumstance, just wrong and he knew she would regret it later. He didn't want to be any kind of regret for her.

He had no affinity for O'Malley but he knew Lindsay would never forgive herself so he did something he literally did not think his body was capable of doing, he leaned in and whispered into her ear, "We can't," then stepped back.

Her eyes flew open and she gulped for air. He was right! She couldn't believe she was about to consider doing something she had never done before, she couldn't look at him just grabbed her jacket and purse then made a beeline out of the room without so much as a goodbye to him.

He sighed and rested his forehead onto the cool locker in front of him desperate for something to tame the blood rushing through him at that moment. He licked his lips, "I'm sorry." He said to no one then slammed both of their lockers shut and headed out.

He was so tense and frustrated when he got near the subway platform that he very nearly jumped when his phone rang. He pushed aside the wish that it was Lindsay and was almost disappointed when he saw the caller id say it was Mac. His boss was just checking up on him making sure that he was going home and not going to find other bodies on the way. It did manage to lighten his mood a bit, but he was still insanely frustrated.

He shut his phone and dropped it into his pocket. Casting a glance across the car he couldn't believe it. There smiling at him, very invitingly, was the chick from the other day. He ducked his head and mumbled to himself, "Get outta here."

Aww hell, if Lindsay was gonna be out of reach that didn't mean he had to be celibate. He pulled his glasses off with one hand and put them in his pocket with his phone then looked over at the girl. Her smile got wider and his frustration mounted, he approached her and asked, "How ya doin'?"

* * *

Lindsay pulled open the window that lead out to the fire escape and crawled out into the cool night air. She closed her eyes as the breeze hit her. Why did he do that to her? Jesse never caused her whole body to literally ache for him and Danny created that by just being near her. It wasn't wise, she knew it, they worked together, she was sure Mac wouldn't approve. It was just better that they stay colleagues and that's it. 

So then would someone tell her hormones? Because they were on fire.

* * *

Heat is unpredictable. Flames that are allowed to lick the skin till it burns should be extinguished before they get out of control. Even if it doesn't matter that the heat is so welcome the body literally craves it. 

Many sources exude heat and when one fire is put out there are others waiting to be found. Danny resigned himself to the fact that Lindsay wasn't going to be his, so he found someone who could. Lindsay decided, again, that the safe route was better.

Neither liked their decisions and both desperately wanted to change their minds.


	7. Moments

**AN** Again I would like to thank my dear **hogwartsalumni** for being my beta…even if it's cause she just wants to read the chapters first. LOL I had a lot of apprehension about this chapter so I hope you all like it. I do have an idea where this going now finally. :)

**Disclaimer: **I haven't done one in awhile...still don't own them...still wish I did...yadda not getting paid...yadda for my own amusement...read on already. :p

* * *

**Moments**

Moments are flighty things. They jump in and out of lives whenever they feel like it. Some moments are unwanted and forgotten; others are desperately wanted and difficult to forget. It's these moments that stick to the memory like glue, affixing itself to the subconscious and not letting go.

* * *

Lindsay used to love sleeping. She'd relish the moment when her head hit the pillow and she could find some reprieve from life. She wasn't sure if she liked sleeping so much any more, mainly because almost every time she closed her eyes could feel Danny's breath on her. It drove her insane.

It was even worse when Jesse was there; it made her feel ridiculously guilty especially when she reasoned with herself that she hadn't done anything wrong. What kept the guilt on the surface was that fact that Danny was the one who stopped it, not her. For all intents and purposes she would have, at the very least, kissed him during that moment in the locker room.

The catastrophic thing is; she wasn't completely sure that would have been wrong.

* * *

Danny ran a hand over his face; he had hoped that over time he'd be able to put the incident out of his head. It wasn't much anyway, he tried to reason with himself, so then why wouldn't that very little moment leave his mind? This was so different for him; usually it didn't take much to get someone out of his mind. He rarely got close enough to feel their loss. Besides, where they left there was usually another one to take their place.

He was torn between wanting to know why Lindsay was different and desperately hoping that if he gave it just a bit more time her smell would rescind to the back of his mind, not continue to permeate the front of it. He couldn't compete with the stability that Jesse O'Malley could no doubt provide for her. He was reckless and spontaneous and not the settle down type by any means.

Right, maybe one day he'd fully believe that.

* * *

There was a moment in that day that Lindsay felt that fate was possibly on her side. She was meeting Flack at a new scene. Mac had called her as she was leaving her apartment for her shift so she changed her route. Since Mac hadn't mentioned it she'd just figured she'd be working the case solo.

The vic was Kristopher Wyllams, 26, a bodyguard by profession, found bludgeoned to death. She wondered who exactly he was working for, already creating scenarios for his death in her head, and even though she knew she had to follow the evidence she always liked to at least think about how the crime could have been committed.

His voice halted that thought process, like it did with most others.

"Hey Monroe," He was hoping that if he just acted nonchalant and relaxed that possibly they could get back to the casualness that was their relationship up until that moment in the locker room. "You made good time."

She bristled for a moment then inhaled and exhaled slowly. She had to work with the guy, there was no way around it so she better just suck it up and treat him normally. She turned and tried to smile, "Hey Messer, I take it we've both got this case?" Sometimes she wished he wouldn't dress so well, it was rather distracting.

Danny remembered when the lab policy had changed so that it now allowed some casual wear and he almost wished it hadn't, what with the way the jeans she was wearingwere hugging her in all of the wrong places. He kept that thought to himself and just nodded at her, "Someone wants us to think this is high profile, although Mac doesn't agree."

She looked at him curiously, "Who thinks it's high profile?"

"That would be Stan Collins," Flack's voice came from behind her, she turned so both her and Danny were facing the Detective as he continued, "Shaheena's manager."

"Sha-who-what?" Danny raised his eyebrows.

Lindsay laughed, "Shaheena, she's a new, uh pop princess I guess, she has that single on the radio umm, Want Me, or something."

"Since when do you listen to pop radio?" Danny asked, amused.

She shrugged and looked back at Flack, "Where's the body?"

"Follow me," He indicated, "And I'd better warn ya…"

"About what?" She asked.

"Not you," Flack laughed and indicated Danny, "This new pop princess or whatever she is, is, rather…uh." He was searching for words when a woman met them at the door a blur of silk, hair extensions, heels, and not much else.

She looked Danny up and down then smirked, "You two must be what they mean by New York's finest."

"Yeah, that…" Flack said with a roll of his eyes.

Danny eyed the woman with a straight face although he was amused. He didn't get a chance to say anything because a gentleman in a suit, ear piece and blackberry showed up, "Who are you?" He asked Danny and Lindsay.

Trying to ignore Shaheena as she assessed him he answered, "We're Crime Scene Investigators, who are you?"

"This is Stan Collins," Flack made the introduction; "They're here to process the scene."

"Does that mean they're gonna get that body out of there, it's messing up Shaheena's rehearsal." Collins complained.

Shaheena made her way around Flack gently running her fingers along his back as she walked then saddled up to Danny slowly like an animal approaching its prey. Suppressing her urge to bitch slap the woman Lindsay addresses the question, "We'll release the scene when we're done processing it Mr. Collins so the sooner we get there the sooner we leave."

"You intellectual types get hotter all the time," Shaheena licked her lips not taking her eyes off Danny for a second.

"And you pop starlet's get more aggressive," Lindsay quipped before she could stop herself, "Now where's the body?"

Danny turned to look at Lindsay, did she sound jealous? He must be dreaming, he shook his head and nodded his agreement.

"Follow me," Collins said with a sigh, "You get back to your dressing room." He pointed at Shaheena who dropped her lips into an exaggerated pout.

"I'm sorry Mr. Collins, I'm going to need to interview Miss. uh, Shaheena, here." Flack said.

Instantly she was smiling, "I'll let you frisk me," She winked.

Flack smirked, "Yeah I'm sure you will." He left the room with shake of his head.

Lindsay and Danny followed the manager silently onto what was obviously a main stage. The ME's assistant was there to pronounce. Collins looked at the CSI's with a sigh.

Lindsay waved him away, "You can leave us alone Mr. Collins but don't go far." He left without another word.

Danny still have a thoughtful muse on his face, "That chick was…" He trailed off.

Ignoring him Lindsay started walking around the stage taking in her surroundings. She noticed that one of the stage lights wasn't up with the other perfectly placed spots. She was so engrossed in her work she didn't even hear Danny ask her if she wanted him to go back with the body.

He walked up and tapped her on the shoulder, "Linds?"

She was standing up on her tiptoes trying to see over a speaker at the end of the stage looking at what appeared to be a footprint. She got so startled she lost her footing and almost fell off the stage.

Almost.

Danny reached out and grabbed her arm to pull her back. Not for the first time Lindsay slammed into his body and lost her breath. She looked up at him, "Uh, thanks." She seriously contemplated complaining to his mother for giving him eyes like that!

He licked his lips, something he found he did around her a lot. Why in the name of heaven did she affect him that way? He nearly forgot where they were and was close to just brushing her lips with his own cause he practically ached to do it. But he shook his head back to the task at hand and asked her again, "You want me to go back with the body?"

Why wasn't she moving? This was the questions screaming it's way through her mind but she still didn't step back, his hand still gripped her arm and her hand was up on his chest for balance. She nodded, "It's probably better unless you wanna be the next one she asks to frisk her." She indicated a huge poster of Shaheena at the back of the stage.

Finally releasing her arm but not stepping back Danny managed a strangled chuckle, "Good point, call me if you need anything."

She stepped away from him and nodded, "Sure."

He almost closed his eyes cause her hand ran down his chest before it ended contact with his body. He didn't and just maintained eye contact with her. It was disconcerting the look she gave him but he couldn't walk away just yet.

It was her who broke the contact this time turning away from him to go back to looking at the speaker. She heard him sigh and forced herself not to watch him leave. She pushed the feelings of guilt out of her mind; it wasn't time to berate herself for letting him affect her again. Jesse wasn't going to like that, yet again; she was working a case with Danny. Their relationship was mostly strained lately, but each seemed to be holding on with their fingertips in the hopes that the other would let go first.

* * *

How many moments were there? They could probably count them on their hands. The initial touch, bumping into each other in the hall, the numerous times they almost touch which processing a crime scene. This new one added to the mix, lasting longer and meaning more than the others combined.

Then there was all of the feelings involved in the 'almost' touch in the locker room. It was like a flint, spark and dry wood was involved and so very close to igniting something that neither them was ready for.

To the casual observer these sorts of things should not elicit the turmoil very apparent in each of them, yet somehow the combination made for a unique chemistry that was rapidly become difficult to ignore.


	8. Dreams

**AN** I have heard your cries for action between these two (and desire it myself, believe me!) so I have decided that purely for my own amusement and perhaps for yours as well that this chapter can be used to satiate our needs for the time being. Thanks again to **hogwartsalumni** for her beta skills. ;) Please review!

Oh the rating might be higher, for you know 'suggestion' and all that...now you're warned.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Danny I'd give him this chapter as a guide...moving on.

* * *

**Dreams**

They are finicky things, one's dreams. It's difficult to tell what is based on reality and what is to be interpreted for further understanding. Fantasy permeating a dream…ah this is something completely different.

This could be a subconscious want working its way into the conscious, at the most vulnerable time possible…when one is dreaming.

* * *

_Danny tossed and turned gripping his pillow..._

Danny was flipping through the channels, bored again. He sat there in his workout shorts and white t-shirt with a beer contemplating how utterly pathetic his life was when he heard a knock on the door. He wasn't sure how the person got into his building but that didn't seem to bother him.

He opened the door and just stared. "Lindsay?"

She looked up at him shyly, "I'm sorry I didn't call."

"No, no that's fine," He let her in, "What's wrong?"

He saw her take in his apartment then look back at him as he shut the door, "What if I told you that Jesse and I broke up?" She asked, staring at him like she was reading his very soul.

His soul was occupied at the moment, desperately telling his heart to keep beating, "I'm sorry what?" He asked dumbly, grasping desperately for some sort of smooth line, but could think of nothing. This couldn't be happening.

She walked toward him, which caused him to back up because he was actually scared of being close to her. She started smiling, "I'm serious, we broke up, Jesse O'Malley is no more."

"Honestly?" He finally said when she was about a foot from him.

"Definitely." She nodded and blatantly looked him up and down.

Who the hell was this woman? His mouth was getting dry, he licked his lips, "I'd be pretty damn pleased." He finally said.

She smiled at him, "Would you kiss me?"

Yup most of the blood in his body was concentrated in all the wrong places. He blinked and kept staring. "I, well, I uh…do you want me to?"

She chuckled and crept closer to him lightly letting her fingers dance up his chest, "You think I came all the way over here to have a heart to heart?"

He just shook his head, finally reciprocating her contact by putting both of his arms around her waist and forcing her body to crash against his. This was it; he dropped his head and captured her mouth. Dear lord she tasted fantastic.

He wasn't really sure how they both ended up shirtless, or how her legs got wrapped around his waist, more amazingly how he had manoeuvred around his crowded apartment into his bedroom. But there they were, she was underneath him and he was staring down at her like she wasn't real.

She giggled and tugged on his shorts, "I've have been waiting too damn long for this to give you a moment for nostalgia, stare at me in the morning."

He laughed and kissed her again groaning when she ground her hips up at him, this was slow and glorious torture he was sure of it. He kissed into the nape of her neck and whispered, "Montana."

Seconds later she flipped him on his back and straddled him, "I'll teach you some things I learned in Montana, now pay close attention. Lesson number one, how to ride…"

_Danny jarred awake after the distinct memory of waking up with his face buried in her hair, her body moulded with his. He stared at his clock which blinked 3:15…Never had he had a dream so distinct and so real. He got up and padded to the bathroom; blindly he ran the water and splashed it onto his face. He stared as the water traced over his features._

_This was getting ridiculous.

* * *

_

_Meanwhile, at her apartment Lindsay was starting to have issues of her own…_

Lindsay stood behind the one way glass and stared into the interrogation room watching as Danny spoke to a suspect. He was so strong and in control. He held the suspect in the palm of his hand and for some reason she couldn't stop staring. She watched as he took a file and slapped it down in front of the man. He walked around and spoke deftly into his ear. The man squirmed, Danny pointed at the picture of the victim. Finally the man broke…Danny motioned for the officer in the room to take the suspect away.

She still watched, fascinated as he leaned against the table and pulled off his glasses to rub his eyes. His sleeves were rolled up, wow he had fantastic arms. She licked her lips and exited the observation room. No one was down the hallway, which was strange but she paid no attention to that and headed straight into the adjoining room.

He looked up, glasses dangling from his fingers, "What is with some people?" He asked with a shake of his head.

She shrugged, "I've stopped asking myself that question, cause it'll probably never be answered." She stopped in front of him rather close, "I have a question for you Messer and I want you to answer me honestly."

He tilted his head to the side and put his glasses back on, "You intrigue me Monroe, what's the question?"

She leaned closer to him and spoke against his mouth, "Why didn't you kiss me in the locker room?"

Licking his lips he intentionally hit hers in the process, "Bad timing," was his answer.

"You want a damn alarm now?" Both of her hands gripped his shirt near his waist pulling up the material so her fingers could graze across his skin.

He chuckled, "Nah," then finally kissed her. His tongue traced along her lips then entered her mouth tasting as much of her as he possibly could.

She laughed when he had her against the wall, she anchored herself there and pulled at his belt, "I gotta say," she panted as he kissed along her neck, then behind her ear, "I've never done it in an interrogation room before."

He hoisted her up by her butt and turned around to drop her on the table, "First time for everything Montana," He growled, "Now lose the shirt."

Grinning at him she did what she was told then took hold of the chain around his neck and winked, "This is kinda like a lead," She whispered using it to pull him back to her, "I like it."

"I aim to please." He said against her skin.

She sighed and arched her back so her body was flush with his, "Good then start pleasing." She whispered as she dug her fingers into his naked back.

_Lindsay woke up in a cold sweat. Or at least she thought it was a cold one till she realized that she was completely flushed. She looked over at her alarm clock and groaned, "3:15?" She said to no one, and then ran a hand over her face._

_The smile danced across her face before she could stop it, she settled back into her pillow, now that was a damn good dream!

* * *

_

Dreams can purge thoughts that are tearing their way through one's mind. They can also bring to light hidden and not so hidden desires that are going unquenched.

They can also be a result of what you ate the night before and nothing more, it's up to the dreamer to decide.

* * *

**AN** And now back to our regularly scheduled story, you know the one set in the waking hours of their lives, with all the angst and such. ;) 


	9. Assumptions

**AN** Okay I had no intention of making this chapter as long as it is, but I also couldn't find a good place to break it up so here it is…I hope it works for you guys. I know you want the previous chapter to become a 'reality' really it will…I swear…it's so close. So indulge me…and as always…review please :)

* * *

**Assumption**

As a play on words it is sometimes said that assumption makes an 'ass out of U and me'. This is more than likely the truth. To assume is to presume or take for granted that what you believe to be the truth is in fact so.

It can therefore be said that it is unwise to assume, for assumption will get one into a load of unwanted trouble.

* * *

Lindsay was almost finished getting ready for work when Jesse showed up. She looked over at him and regretted giving him her key, because she knew for certain that she was going to have to ask for it back. She accepted the coffee he handed her and yawned after taking a sip.

He clucked his tongue which grated on her nerves, "You spend too much time at the lab." He said.

She sighed and said "I love my job," as she took another sip. She wasn't about to tell him that it was an amazing dream that kept her up, not her work, although funnily enough that was directly related. She smiled into the paper cup; she shouldn't already be feeling relief.

"Is that all you love?" He asked with much disdain.

She rolled her eyes, "We need to talk…" she said staring intently at the cup in her hand.

* * *

Danny had a reputation. He was well aware of that. Some of it was warranted the rest of it was just gossip that got out of hand; most of the time he didn't even bother to correct people's assumptions because largely he didn't care what they thought either way. He was walking into the building thinking about the dream that had woken him up a number of times the night before. He was smiling to himself when he noticed Lindsay and Jesse O'Malley step out of a cab. He saw them hug for a few minutes then shook his head with a frown, why did he all of a sudden feel the urge to punch a building?

He forced himself to go through what they knew about the case so far. One of the stage lights had been loosened and dropped onto the victim's head. The impact had killed him instantly. The light had been found behind a dumpster in the alley, wiped clean but next to what appeared to be a pair of Shaheena's underwear. It was curious to say the least. Danny approached the trace lab and noticed Adam waving at him.

"You never cease to amaze me Messer." Adam commented as Danny sauntered into the room.

Danny looked over his shoulder then back at the lab tech with a smile, "What did I do now?"

"I heard about her," Adam said, "From Flack, what's the name this time? May or something? Are you trying to make your way through the months of the year?"

Danny bounced up on his feet and crossed his arms with a self satisfied smirk, "And Flack tells me he doesn't gossip." He should have dissuaded this kind of conversation he knew that, there really wasn't much to say about that girl except that they had met. He had actually completely forgotten about meeting her up until that moment, his mind quite occupied by someone else.

"So did you or didn't you meet a woman on the subway named after a month of the year?" Adam asked as he leaned on the table beside him.

"Sure did, she spells it with an 'e' though and I resent the implication that I'm going through the months of the year." He leaned back on the table and continued to smile. Yeah okay he shouldn't be encouraging this, but Adam always seemed to revere Danny when it came to women and he couldn't help it, he liked the attention.

"Well there was a June wasn't there? And an April…hell I think there was even a Summer in there." Adam was slightly in awe which just stood to feed Danny's ego more. He couldn't remember there ever being a woman with either of those names, but that didn't really matter at this point.

Danny chuckled, "Summer is not a month of the year." He didn't deny or confirm what Adam was saying, something he probably should have done but he was enjoying the treatment the tech was giving him.

"It's a season, close enough." Adam shook his head, "And what's with this new one?"

Lindsay slipped into the room quietly and raised her eyebrows, what were they talking about?

"A celebrity no less?" Adam continued not seeing her.

"Ah, she's just a horny teenager," Danny pushed away from the table and smacked the file he was carrying against the younger man's arm, "Can't get involved with that, too much to lose."

"Your dignity?" Adam asked.

Danny laughed, "Nah, my manhood, women get mighty pissed when you see more of them at once. I have enough on my plate right now." He turned to leave the room and stopped cold. "Lindsay. I was, uh, just gonna show you these DNA results." Unfortunately he had the distinct impression that if she overheard any of his conversation with Adam she would be less than pleased.

He wasn't wrong.

Lindsay looked at him and cursed her heart for jumping. Although it mostly jumped because seeing him in person caused her dream to rocket to the forefront of her mind. She had forgotten that he had a bit of a reputation for flirting and serial dating. Apparently to be with Danny Messer, you had to be named after a month of the year, she thought bitterly. Hell it sounded like he'd even contemplate Shaheena and she was barely 19! Why did she even entertain the idea of this guy? She knew from the start that it wouldn't be a good one and she was obviously right. So why did it hurt like hell that he hadn't wanted her that day in the locker room?

She walked passed him trying to ignore him and looked at Adam, "Mac sent me to find out if you figured out the trace that was on the hands of his vic."

Adam nodded, "Yeah, yeah," He reached for a file on his table and handed it to her, "Amongst other things there were traces of linseed oil, spirits of turpentine, beeswax, and balsam of fir."

Lindsay looked at the results, "Hoof conditioner?"

"Yeah," Adam said, "How did…" He trailed off.

She smiled at him, still ignoring Danny who was watching her silently, "I'm from Montana, I can ride." She said simply.

Montana? Ride? Oh damn Danny's mind went instantly to his dream from the previous night. Oh this wasn't good; he cleared his throat in an effort to push the thought out of his head. He wanted to close his eyes but knew he'd have the wrong image of her so he decided against it.

At the sound she made brief eye contact with him and misinterpreted his expression completely, "Excuse me." She walked by him quickly and hurried down the hall. God it was hard enough being around him and nothing had actually happened between them! She could imagine it being much worse if something had; she all of a sudden had an overwhelming urge to be with Jesse, which was highly ironic. She stopped that thought, Danny or no Danny her decision that morning had been a smart one, albeit the loneliness was already starting to creep its way over her.

"Wait, Monroe!" Danny called. He didn't want her to think less of him which scared the shit out of him because he couldn't remember the last time he'd cared what a woman thought of him. Mostly cause the women he paid attention to were usually in awe of him from the start.

She stopped but didn't turn around. Her arms were crossed and her breathing was erratic. She was inwardly berating herself for even caring. She shouldn't damnit! It's not like her and Danny were together. That wouldn't be the smartest thing at this point anyway although smart thoughts were never what coursed through her mind when it came to Danny.

He walked around her so that he was facing her, "Don't think that…" He trailed off then tried again, "What you may have heard it's not…" He stopped again and ran a hand over his face finally ending with, "It's just talk."

She looked up at him, "It shouldn't make a difference to me anyway." It was a weird thing to say, but it's the exact words that were running through her mind.

"Well no," He conceded, "But does it?" He shouldn't want to know, but he really did. He saw her eyes shift and pretty much had his answer but wanted to hear her say it.

She couldn't admit it, even under the circumstances she sighed, "What's in the file?"

He audibly groaned then gave in cause he wasn't about to have the discussion that could ensue there at the lab. He opened the file, "The doc found lipstick in an interesting place on the vic."

Lindsay took the file and had to smile, "How much you wanna bet our starlet is to blame?"

"Well Flack has her in an interrogation room, how about we ask her?" He offered.

She nodded and started walking, "What the hell do guys see in a woman like that?" She muttered.

He got the meaning loud and clear and wisely chose, again, not to comment. What he wouldn't give for them to just go back to the time when they could have comfortable banter that didn't mean anything. This cloud of tension that hung over their heads; well it bred misunderstanding and assumption like a fervent rabbit. He decided to keep the conversation on the case, "What did you find out about the footprints on the speaker?"

"I got a full print. They were size eleven converse all stars." She had checked all the shoes of the people they had found at the scene, not one of them had ones that matched.

"Nobody that I saw there looked like the type to wear those," Danny mused, "And our vic had on your typical black dress shoes."

"Well standing on top of the speaker would have given the killer the leverage to loosen the stage light so it would fall on Mr. Wyllams." Lindsay said then smiled, "Maybe Shaheena can shed some light on the situation."

Danny chuckled at the pun and pushed open the door of the interrogation room allowing Lindsay to walk ahead of him. Shaheena was leaning forward on the table sneering at Flack who was leaning back in his chair eyeing her wearily. He glanced over at the two CSI's and almost looked relieved.

Shaheena took one look at Danny and clicked her tongue, "It is wrong how sexy you are."

He ignored her and opened the file he had been carrying, "It appears you had an intimate relationship with Mr. Wyllams Shaheena."

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." She said evasively.

Lindsay sat next to Flack and raised an eyebrow, "Your lipstick on his genitals says you did."

The pop star shrugged but didn't even acknowledge that Lindsay had spoken, which irritated the Montana woman to no end. Shaheena kept smiling at Danny, "I have a gift."

Again ignoring her implication, but finding it hard not to smirk, Danny referred to another bit of evidence they had, "We also have a used condom that contains DNA from your guitarist Mike Jones, and thanks to you giving up a sample at the scene we've matched the female contribution to you."

Dragging her eyes slowly over Danny's body Shaheena smiled, "I still maintain you could have collected the sample in a more creative way."

"Shaheena," Lindsay said with a warning tone, "Did you or did you not have a sexual relationship with those two men."

Again the woman shrugged and didn't regard Lindsay, "I have relations with a lot of men."

"Classy," Flack muttered so that only Lindsay could hear him, she smiled, however strained. This little bitch was getting on her last nerve, if Shaheena kept ignoring her and looking at Danny like he was a night time snack, Lindsay just might completely snap.

Danny was going to say something when Shaheena spoke again, "That chain you're wearing, where does it go?" She eyed the metal that disappeared inside his shirt.

That was it.

Lindsay stood up and slammed her hands down on the table, which forced Shaheena to finally look at her. "Listen miss thing, if you keep this up I'm going to make sure the only sex you ever have is with a large woman named Gilda, so you're someone else's bitch for a change. I am well aware of this man's insane sex appeal so now that you have so blatantly stated it for everyone else in the room just answer the damn question!"

The room was quiet for almost a full minute as Shaheena just stared at Lindsay, astounded. Apparently no one had talked to her like that in a good long while. Danny was also staring at Lindsay, in fact he was open mouthed and gaping at her. Did she just say he had insane sex appeal? His mouth was dry and so were his eyes, he was afraid to blink. This was by far the strangest place to admit something like that.

Flack cleared his throat, "Shaheena," He prompted, "Answer."

As though she instantly sobered up Shaheena shook her head at Lindsay, "You have it bad," She said then looked at Danny, "Yeah I was with both of them, so?"

"So maybe Kristopher threatened to leak your, uh, escapades to the press so you found a way to get rid of him," Danny suggested.

Shaheena shook her head, "Nah he didn't care, and I was with Timmy at the time anyway."

"Timmy?" Flack raised his eyebrows.

"The drummer," Lindsay said quietly, acutely aware of what she had said earlier and highly embarrassed about it.

"Exactly," Shaheena said, "Listen it's all sad and shit that Kris is dead, but it makes no difference to me, now can I go?"

"One last thing," Danny said, "Do you have any idea why a pair of your underwear was found next to the murder weapon?"

The singer's eyes rose in shock, "That's weird; a few of my thongs have been taken from my dressing room this past week, maybe…" She trailed off suddenly frightened.

Flack stood and motioned for the officer in the room, "Thank you Shaheena, this officer is going to make sure you get back to your place safely." She left without another word, although she did glance up at Danny one more time. He gave her a small smile then stepped out of the way so she could pass.

Yup it was still there, Lindsay still wanted to smack the girl, even if they only thing she had gotten out of him was a smile. She shook her head, "I'm gonna go see if I can't run with that shoe lead." She said making a hasty exit, looking at neither of the men in the room.

Flack eyed Danny with a smirk, "Insane sex appeal?"

"Don't look at me," Danny held up his hands his eyes still on the door, "it's the first time I've heard anything about it." This was true; he was pretty sure he got some sort of rise out of her, if the locker room incident meant anything at all. However, to hear her say it, wow, he wondered why that affected him so strongly.

"Does this mean…" Flack trailed off.

Danny just shook his head, "I don't assume shit; man it always blows up in my face." He couldn't help but smile slightly though, so she thought he had sex appeal huh? It was amazing how much different it felt knowing she did, when he hadn't felt a thing but repulsion when Shaheena had implied it.

* * *

Assumption changes the way one looks at things. It also plants ideas in ones head that just won't leave. Assumption needs to be cleared up before it festers into an unwarranted opinion.

Assumption also breeds jealousy and that is the emotion that coursed through Jesse O'Malley. She had said it had nothing to do with Danny and everything to do with her being done with their relationship, but Jesse begged to differ. He assumed that Danny had been convincing Lindsay to leave him and he was going to prove it.

* * *

**AN** Tale a wild guess as to what the next chapter is gonna be called. ;) 


	10. Jealousy

**AN** Again thank you to my dear **hogwartsalumni** for doing the beta thing…you rock. Okay I hope this works for ya'll…I'm nearing the end here…a couple more chapters are kickin' around that's for sure. You guys are troopers for stickin' around this long thanks muchly…now I'll shut up so you can read. :)

* * *

**Jealousy**

Jealousy is a universal emotion. It is not an emotion that many want to be associated with; it indicates dissatisfaction with one's own self leading one to blame another. It's been called the green-eyed monster and can lead a person to act erratically.

Jesse O'Malley had reasons to be jealous of Danny Messer. Unbeknownst to Danny, Lindsay was not the first woman Jesse knew to be swayed by the CSI. He felt justified in his jealousy because of this and was certain that Danny was aware of what he had done. His reality was skewed by his misconceptions and this was leading him further and further away from any sort of rational thinking.

Jesse had heard that Detective Flack was going to pick up a suspect in the case that Danny and Lindsay were working so he made sure he requested to accompany him.

"Can I ask you a question detective?" He asked, once they were on their way to pick up Kyle Moore, the president of Shaheena's fan club and the owner of a pair of size eleven converse all stars.

"Yeah sure O'Malley," Flack said with a curious expression.

"How well do you know Danny Messer?"

Flack had to admit that when Jesse had offered to go with him to pick up Moore he had suspected this kind of conversation. He glanced at the officer out of the corner of his eye, "Better than most, not as well as some. Why?"

"Lindsay broke up with me." Jesse said glumly as though that were an explanation in and of itself.

Raising an eyebrow Flack slowed to stop at a light and regarded the man, "And you think Danny had something to do with that?"

"Well they work together and…he's got this reputation." Jesse tried to explain.

Flack chuckled as they pulled up to their destination, "And you believe everything you hear?"

"Do you remember Ann Berman?" Jesse decided to try a different avenue.

He racked his brain for a moment then nodded, "She worked the call lines during that huge case last year, so?" He answered his own question remembering something about Danny taking her out for drinks, "You were dating her?"

"No," Jesse shook his head, "But I was going to ask her out, then Messer gets in there and that was it she hardly noticed me."

"And based on this you think he seduced Lindsay out of a relationship with you?" Flack asked with a smirk, "That's a lot of conclusion jumping O'Malley, my advice, if you have a problem with Danny take it up with him." They got to Kyle Moore's room halting their conversation.

* * *

Lindsay tried not to watch him she really did, but for some reason the fact that she didn't have a boyfriend any more made him even more enticing to look at. She hadn't been able to bring herself to tell him that she and Jesse broke up; mainly because she was afraid he wouldn't care.

"Check this out," Danny said. He was scrolling through eBay and came across something interesting.

Lindsay did something she never would have done before, but for some reason she wanted to test out his reaction. She put a hand on the back of his chair and her other next to where he had his hand on the mouse. Leaning down close to him she looked at the monitor, "Hmm, it appears somebody was selling Shaheena's thongs online."

He licked his lips and looked at her profile out of the corner of his eye. What was she doing? He had been insanely curious about her comment the day before; it contradicted what he had seen before work. "Guess who the seller is…" He prompted forcing himself to think about work and not how badly he wanted to pull her onto his lap.

She turned to look at him, "Kyle Moore?" She watched his pupils dilate and smirked, hmm maybe she had some sex appeal of her own. However, now was not the time or place, yet she didn't move just waited for him to respond.

"That one and the same," He nodded then raised his eyebrows at her, "Are you doing this on purpose?"

She feigned ignorance, "Doing what?"

"Boxing me in," He said matter of factly then stood up, which put him dangerously in her personally space, "Not that I mind, but it's highly inappropriate." He then lifted her arm up gently to step around it.

Oh it was official she wanted the man badly. She inhaled then stared at him, "Where are you going?" Why in the name of all that was holy was she not telling him about her breaking up with Jesse? What was holding her back?

"Flack must have Moore now I'm gonna go help with the interrogation." He saw her move to join him, "You know being in a confined space with you isn't a good idea for me right now so why don't you wait on the results on those epithelials we found on the thong by the murder weapon."

She merely nodded, "I'll contact you the moment I know anything." TELL HIM! Her brain yelled yet she still said nothing.

He smiled, "Good." He said then got out of there. Something was different with her, he definitely liked it but he wasn't about to help her cheat on her boyfriend. He'd done it before, but with Lindsay it was different, he wanted to be better for her, not help her be worse.

She watched him walk down the hall toward the locker room and slammed her hand down on the table next to her. It should be illegal what that man did to her brain.

* * *

Flack had just stating talking to Kyle Moore about his whereabouts the night of the murder when Danny walked into the interrogation room, he didn't even see Jesse who was glaring at him.

Danny spoke to Flack for a moment informing him of where he wanted the interrogation to go. Flack agreed and sat down to offer assistance whenever it was needed. Danny walked around Kyle a moment making the young man nervous, "So you're the president of Shaheena's fan club?" He asked.

Kyle nodded, "She picked me herself," He said proudly.

"So then was it her idea for you to sell her underwear on eBay?" Danny asked with an eyebrow raised, "Does that sound right to you Flack?"

"I gotta say I wouldn't let the president of my fan club sell my skivvies on the internet." Flack said sarcastically, "That's just wrong."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Danny agreed and put his hand on the chair behind Kyle, "So enlighten us."

Kyle's face twitched, "She always forgot me, we've met eight times and every time she looks at me like she's never seen my face before."

"Uh huh," Danny nodded pretending to understand, "And for that you decide to sell her undies on eBay, so what, did Kristopher get in the way?"

"She was willing to bone anyone except you so…" Flack started but Kyle cut him off.

"Not anyone, she didn't know me well enough yet!" He protested.

"Hey Danny?"

"Yeah Flack?"

"How long do you think it would have taken you to convince her to sleep with you?"

Kyle started getting mad but the two men pretended they didn't see him.

"About a second, and you?"

"I'd say about the same." They both looked at Kyle.

Danny leaned across the table at him, "You weren't good enough for her were you Kyle?"

"No!" He slammed his hands down, "I just stole her underwear I didn't kill that guy."

Just then Danny's phone rang; he looked down at the name and smiled, "Talk to me Monroe."

Lindsay's heart should not have jumped damn heart. "I have results."

"Whatcha got?" He prompted not evening noticing Jesse clenching and unclenching his fist in the corner.

"The epithelials belong to a Kyle Moore," She read off the information, "Who was up on an assault charge last year for apparently punching a guy who got a kiss from Shaheena."

"You're beautiful, thanks." Danny hung up the phone before he realized what he'd said. He was way too into the zone though so he glazed over it and smiled manically at Kyle.

Jesse was more convinced than he had been that Danny had some hand in Lindsay breaking up with him.

Flack smirked, "Just so you know, that smile on his face means life ain't gonna go well for you."

"Do you know what epithelials are Kyle?" Danny asked.

"I look like a nerd to you?" Kyle rolled his eyes.

Danny got up and went around Kyle's chair again and leaned down to speak into his ear, "From what Shaheena said to me she likes nerds." He stood up again, "Epithelials are little skin cells that hold DNA, you followin' me?"

"Yeah." Kyle's voice was getting shaky.

"A whole bunch of those skin cells were found on a pair of Shaheena's underwear right next to the light that killed Kristopher, put this with the fact that your shoes match the prints we found on the speaker directly under the light and the fact that you just admitted that you stole her underwear, you see where I'm going with this Kyle. It can only mean one thing…" He trailed off.

"He should have just let me leave!" Kyle exclaimed.

"I was gonna go with you killed him," Flack said wryly.

They got a full confession out of Kyle who maintained the whole time that if Shaheena had just paid attention to him nothing would have happened.

Flack pulled the guy up with a shake of his head, "You give pathetic a whole new meaning, come on genius."

Danny was about to leave the interrogation room when Jesse finally spoke, "You think you're all that don't you?"

"O'Malley?" Danny looked at him stunned that the guy had been standing there the whole time. He tended not to pay attention to the officer that usually stood in the corner of the interrogation room; they rarely gave him a reason to.

"We were fine," Jesse continued, "Lindsay and I, we were doing fine and then you had to go and be…I don't know what the hell you did but she broke up with me over it."

Danny's mind was swimming, they broke up? Lindsay and Jesse broke up? Maybe that was why she had acted the way she had earlier. Oh wait a minute…he looked up at Jesse, "You think I had something to do with that?"

"Don't even pretend you didn't do it on purpose!"

"Do what on purpose? I have no idea what you are talking about O'Malley. I didn't even know you guys broke up." He said honestly and leaned against the table in the room. His head was still swimming for some reason. They broke up?

Jesse was slowly losing this and he knew it, he was actually entertaining the idea that maybe it didn't have everything to do with Danny Messer. Maybe he was to blame for some of this, "You've done it before." He said.

"What? Broke you and Lindsay up?" This was almost amusing except that Danny still couldn't get it out of his head…they broke up?

"No!" Jesse was exasperated, Danny was acting too innocent. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Danny was supposed to act like an egotistical ass so that his thoughts about him were right. "Ann Berman." He finally said.

Danny thought for a moment then looked over at Jesse, "You were dating her?" He really had no idea where Jesse was going with this; he'd just gone out for drinks with that chick. He hardly remembered what she looked like.

He realized defeat when he saw it. Whatever Lindsay's reasons were for breaking up with him they certainly weren't fuelled by Danny. At least not intentionally, "You didn't try to convince Lindsay to break up with me?" He finally asked lamely.

Danny shook his head very glad that he could honestly answer this question, "Nope." Although he had wanted to, had he ever and he probably could have if he had let himself give in to the temptation. He had to applaud his self restraint in the locker room it was really helping his case here, "Is there anything else?"

Jesse just shook his head so Danny left.

* * *

Lindsay got to her car with a smile, she was glad they had been able to finish that case so cleanly. She unlocked the door and pulled it open when an arm went over her shoulder and a hand went to her waist and spun her around, "So why didn't you tell me?" Danny asked shutting the door so she was leaning up against her car and he was close up against her.

She licked her lips and swallowed slowly, "I didn't know if you'd care." She finally said knowing exactly what he was talking about.

He rolled his eyes, "You're kidding me right?" Leaning down he slowly and deliberately kissed her lips. She was just savouring the taste of him when he pulled away, "Right I don't care." He said with a smirk then turned and walked away.

* * *

Jealousy breeds contempt and can skew one's view of the truth. Jesse was so blind to his disdain for Danny that he didn't realize he was sabotaging his own relationship.

However he wasn't entirely wrong, she did say 'insane sex appeal' after all.

* * *

**AN** So yeah I have been informed that I am mean…come on at least now they've kissed outside of their dreams! lol 


	11. Honesty

**AN** Hey there folks, I am sorry for the delay in updating, this chapter has **heavy** 'Stuck on You' spoilers so you have been warned. In that vein the dialogue around the case is from the episode so I can't take credit for it. I'm sure you'll figure out which scenes are mine. lol Thanks again to **hogwartsalumni** for the beta thing. ;)

* * *

**Honesty**

Honesty's the best policy. It's a familiar statement; it rings true for most every situation. Most believe that to be honest about one's feelings and emotions is usually better than bottling it inside.

Danny and Lindsay hadn't been honest with each other. From the very beginning, since they met, they hadn't acknowledged the attraction or even admitted it was there. It was too much now, they either needed to admit it or decide to do nothing about it, but something had to be done and soon.

Like right now…

* * *

Lindsay stared at his retreating back. Did he just kiss her and walk away? Oh he wasn't leaving it like this! Her legs started moving before she spoke, "Danny."

He stopped and looked over his shoulder, "What?"

She walked over to him and put her hand on his arm to turn him around, "You can't do that!" She said, "You can't just do that and then walk away."

He crossed his arms and kept smirking, "I can't?" He raised an eyebrow.

Oh he was toying with her; well two can play that game. She put her hands on his arms and uncrossed them slowly then stepped into the space he created and smiled at him when she saw the smirk waver just a bit.

He stared at her, what was she doing? When did she become so in control he looked down as her hands put his around her waist then stared, fascinated as her fingers danced their way up his chest till they rested around his neck.

Her heart was beating about a mile a minute but she'd already gone this far she was finishing this. She stood up on her tip toes and then moved her face just passed his to whisper into his ear, "No," She let her tongue graze the lobe lightly, "You can't."

His one hand splayed along the small of her back while the other made its way into her hair. "Who says you get to call the shots?" He asked into her ear before kissing along her jawline to her mouth.

She wanted to stop talking so she just kissed him again. She took her time exploring his mouth and allowing his lips to work hers. When they finally both needed air she pulled back and smiled at him, "I think we need to talk."

He found it was disconcerting that he loved how great she looked just then. Her lips swollen slightly and her cheeks flushed, in fact he really liked that it was him that made her look that way. He was going to answer her when both of their phones beeped.

Reluctantly they pulled away from each other, slowly realizing their surroundings. Were they just making out in a parking lot? Looking down at their respective phones they both smiled at each other.

"Mac." They said in unison.

"Does yours say the vic is gonna be interesting?" Lindsay asked.

"Yeah," Danny nodded, "This must be the year for interesting cases. Listen I just need to drop these files from this last case off before we do a new one, mind if I meet you there?"

"Sure, I'll start processing," She said then inhaled, so they were back to co-workers again?

Sensing her discomfort he reached down and squeezed her hand, "Raincheck on the talk?"

She smiled up at him, "Yeah, definitely."

Brushing the hair away from her neck he leaned down and kissed the exposed area at the base of it, "See you." He said with a wink and headed into the building.

She smiled after him wondering how they were going to pull this off.

* * *

She could hear him arguing with the owner of the store that the body lay in front of, Daman Runyon. She loved how annoyed he got with people like that. She could feel him walk over to her and decided to get straight to business, pretending nothing had happened less than an hour earlier.

"Gideon Epp, music promoter, it's not as glamorous as I would have imagined, where's the limo and the girls with the tight shirts?" She saw him smile and knew he was thinkin' about Shaheena, but hoped he was wise enough to say nothing.

He was, "Trust me it's not like that at all." He thought back to when he had dabbled in that world, it didn't appeal to him that long that's for sure.

"You know more about this than your average CSI." She observed, wondering how many things she had to learn about Danny Messer, he seemed to have had his finger in many aspects of the world. This intrigued her to no end.

"Yeah I played for awhile," He put on his gloves and looked down at her, "enough to get a taste of the world and that was enough for me." He pushed the memories out of his mind and got to work, that really wasn't a place he wanted to go right at that moment.

She watched him and couldn't stop herself from being somewhat fascinated. Why? What was it about this guy that just made her want to know more?

He looked down at the victim and couldn't believe it, "What the heck is this? Glue? Somebody really wanted to stick it to Mr. Epp."

That was the start of Danny's running glue jokes for the day. By the time he made another one when they ran into Mac on their way to see Hammerback Lindsay just shook her head, "He doesn't think that's funny, he's humouring you." She wasn't actually sure about that, but she knew it would get a reaction out of Danny. She always knew what buttons to push when it came to him.

Danny's back went up a bit and he pointed at her, "You don't know him like I do." He said defiantly. He and Mac had a tumultuous history to be certain; he didn't think Mac had it in him to humour anyone. Although he had to admit, it was a groaner of a joke, which of course is what made it funny.

As the case progressed it got weirder and weirder. An undischarged bullet was found in the vics throat, it looked like he was bashed in the neck with something that left four scratches on the side of his throat and he was doused with pepper spray before the glue was even poured on him.

At one point while the two of them were discussing the contents of the glue they got precariously close to each other. As Danny talked about it he looked down at her and had to stop his mind from going places it shouldn't.

Lindsay saw his pupils dilate and pushed it out of her mind; she couldn't go there it wasn't the time or place. While they were looking for trace from Gideon's attacker under the ALS light he brushed the small of her back with his hand as he passed behind her. She didn't outwardly react for fear of anyone else in the room noticing, but her skin bubbled into gooseflesh at his contact. This was getting insane.

As they were going through the glue mask Danny found a bass pick while Lindsay found a button. They found themselves back at Runyon's interviewing the 'friendly' owner, Daman, not long after those findings. He was far from helpful which really made Danny want to arrest him. Worse was Gus Drood the manager of another band who seemed to have 'accidentally' walked through the glue poured over the vic's face.

When Danny saw Drood outside of Runyon's he watched him with the band he was repping and had a distinct memory of the ass that tried to sell his band way back in the day. He didn't like Drood; there was just something about him. He got an idea, "Gus you got a minute?"

"You got business with me? Cause otherwise I gotta get goin'." Oh yeah Danny really, really didn't like this guy.

Lindsay watched silently, always enjoying how Danny interacted with suspects, especially those who didn't know they were suspects.

"You missin' a button?" Danny asked, completely on a role now, wanting to match attitude with attitude when it came to this guy.

"Yeah, why?" Drood tried to act cool.

"I think I might have found that button." Danny said looking at the man with a level of distain. "Do me a favour, don't move all right?"

"This is bordering on harassment." Drood tried, still attempting to keep the upper hand.

Guys like this always pissed Danny off, he pointed, "You know what, don't tempt me."

Lindsay was quite enjoying this exchange and kept quiet even when Drood gave her the atypical guy nod that most likely meant he found her attractive. She just gave him a humouring smile and watched the conversation unfold.

Danny walked over with all the authority he had as a police officer, "Check this out, excuse me," He said as he pulled Drood's tie away to match the button they found with the one on his shirt. He chuckled, "That's an exact match to your shirt, this button. Wanna tell me how it ended up on the body of a dead guy?" Oh yeah he really liked this guy for this.

"Maybe it fell on him?" Drood suggested all manner of defiance in his tone. "Ask yourself this, why would I kill some random guy on the street, huh, to what end?"

Lindsay knew the guy was baiting Danny so she stood back to watch how Danny would react, ready to intervene only if she had to.

"I don't know Gus, maybe cause he was pushin' a band and you're pushin' a band in a place right next door to where his body was found?" Some guys were really just stupid and that got on Danny's nerves. The more he looked at this guy the more he liked him for this murder.

"If you're gonna arrest me for killin' this guy, then let's get it done, otherwise I'm about to sign the deal of a lifetime and I'd appreciate a little peace." Drood was cocky and sure of himself, which was gonna sink him if he did this.

Danny's blood just kept boilin' this guy was almost exactly like a number of the ones he remembered encountering. A very huge reason he moved out of the music business, "I bet you'd take a little piece of everyone you meet given half the chance," He said feeling Lindsay's eyes on him, knowing he couldn't push it much further so he relented, "You can go."

Drood gave him a cocky smirk and turned to walk away. Danny was so annoyed he growled to himself trying to calm the need to beat the crap outta the guy.

Trying to lighten the mood Lindsay walked over to him and quipped, "Nice guy."

Instantly he laughed and looked over at her. Not that he needed another reason to be attracted to her, but there it was. He really wanted to be done with this case so they could continue where they had left off.

* * *

Mac did manage to inadvertently distract Lindsay from her Danny thought process by involving her in his case and coming to help with theirs. In fact she was slightly more than intrigued by Mac's apparent abundance of knowledge when it came to bass playing. She managed to do some calling and figure it out a bit more before they wrapped up their case. Turns out it was Drood, and two members of his band. It was amazing what people would do to become famous, amazing and quite pathetic.

Danny was rather elated that he did in fact get to arrest Drood and had a big grin on his face as they drove back to the lab. Lindsay got an idea about how they could continue their talk from earlier.

She smiled at him, "You did that on purpose didn't you?"

"What?" He looked at her with a smirk.

"Asking me if I wanted to see Rough Sects," She shook her head referring to the name of the band with the murdering members.

He grinned, "Your expression was priceless, definitely worth it."

She smacked his arm, "You owe me, you know that."

"Well then," he waggled his eyebrows, "Feel free to collect whenever you want."

She blushed intensely affected by him. Changing the topic slightly she looked at her hands, "Do you know where Cozy's is?"

He was confused, "The bar? Yeah, why?"

She looked over at him, "Meet me there at 9:30?"

"Uh, sure." He agreed almost nervous for some reason, "Yeah, yeah I can do that."

"Good," She got out of the vehicle as he parked it in the lab parking lot, "I'll see you then."

He leaned on the steering wheel and watched her walk into the building. He had no idea what the hell was going on, but the anticipation was nothing like he'd ever felt before. And the scary thing was…he really liked it.

* * *

Lindsay waited until she knew Mac was on stage playing when she entered the bar. She ordered a white wine for herself and a beer for Danny. She started scanning the door at twenty to ten wondering if he got spooked and wasn't gonna show. When she saw his form standing in the doorway her heart did that skip thing it always did when he was around. She put her hand up to greet him.

His hands were shoved into the pockets of his jacket. He wasn't sure why but he was kinda nervous and definitely late. "I'm sorry I'm late." He smiled at her, not wanting to admit that he was debating what to do and what to say when he got there.

She brushed it aside just glad he was there at all, "That's okay, I ordered you a beer." She saw the waitress getting it ready, having seen Danny arrive.

Danny shifted in his seat, why was she smiling at him like that? It was like she was privy to a secret she wasn't about to share, "Thanks," He smiled at her, "So, what's up?" He wasn't sure if she was gonna bring up this 'talk' thing or if he had to. If he had his way they'd leave the bar and not do much talking, but that probably wasn't Lindsay's style, something he admired about her.

"It's just something I thought you might be interested in." She said evasively as she looked up at Mac playing. She was surprised that Danny hadn't even noticed Mac on stage when he'd walked in.

"Jazz music?" Danny was confused, he'd never really had the beatnik vibe, didn't think he gave it off either, "That's me." He said then just smiled at her as the song ended.

She returned the smile, knowing he'd catch on soon enough. They started clapping and he just continued to smirk at her when he heard something he didn't expect at all, "I'd like to thank Miss. Carol Williams all the way from Chicago, our special guest." Dear gawd was that Mac's voice?

Danny slowly turned in his seat and gaped at his boss casually up on stage, "Get outta here," He said then looked over at Lindsay who just laughed at his expression. Danny had to look back completely astounded that Mac could ever look that relaxed, let alone be a good musician, "Are you kidding me?" He asked turning his attention back to Lindsay, "How'd you know he played?"

Lindsay explained as she watched Mac play, "I figured it out. I could tell by the way he held the bass in the lab that he knew guitars. And I knew he had a standing appointment on Wednesdays, coulda been a shrink, or yoga, but I took the music option." It had been a bit of a chore but she had been so curious by his treatment of the bass during the case that she had to know why. She actually hadn't been that shocked when she found out the truth. It suited him.

Danny was still just stunned he nodded as she explained then stated, "I'm impressed," before looking back over at the stage absolutely flabbergasted that Mac Taylor was up there all relaxed and playing bass like he owned the sound.

Lindsay watched Mac then looked at Danny. She was extremely pleased with herself that her presumptions about Mac had been right, "Maybe you didn't know him as well as you thought." She suggested, hoping Danny wouldn't take offence.

For once in his life he didn't. He just regarded her with a thoughtful expression. What was it about this woman that made him think? She had a point; all he really knew about Mac was what he learned in the lab. Add on top of that all the drama from the previous year he had to admit that he had conjured a bit of an ogre in his head when it came to his boss. She was right, he had to admit it and this made him want to kiss her right there in the bar. He decided against it however, at least not yet.

The waitress came over with his beer and he took a long drink of it before finally speaking, "So fine I admit it, you figured out an aspect of Mac that I didn't know. I still maintain you don't know him like I do."

"Fair enough," She conceded having heard some rumours about the tension the two men had, "So," She took a sip of her wine never taking her eyes from his, "Are we actually going to have this conversation?"

He smiled at her and reached across the table to take her hand; he brought the palm up to his lips and kissed it gently, "You are such a girl."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm going to give you one chance to explain the chauvinism out of that statement."

"I'll only admit it's chauvinistic if you say, honestly, that you haven't been running this conversation in your mind all day." He said letting go of her hand so he could lean forward on the table and cradle his beer.

She blushed, she couldn't help it, "Okay fine, but you can't tell me you didn't think about it."

"I thought about your lips, but we weren't talking." He said with a smirk then took a drink and casually looked over his shoulder as Mac finished the song.

This wasn't at all how she pictured this conversation, she was used to predictable, and Danny was anything but, so she tried another tactic. She pulled her chair just a bit closer to his and put her feet underneath it letting her legs brush up against his calves, "Then let me put it to you this way," She leaned forward letting her fingers brush against his lightly, "thought is all you're gonna get if we don't talk about this."

He regarded her for a long moment absolutely adoring how bold she was being. He nodded, "Fine, you win, we'll talk." He put a hand on her knee and nodded toward the stage where Mac was now watching them, "But not here."

He had to buy time to figure out what he was going to say, he rarely had these talks. In fact he could count on one hand when he had actually had this kind of conversation with a woman. She kept her legs under his chair and leaned even closer to him so his hand went further up her thigh. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing to him at that moment, if she kept this up he'd spill everything just to taste her again.

She agreed when she saw Mac who nodded at them without breaking the beat he was creating. She wasn't sure how their boss would take them watching him play, either way Danny was right, with Mac in the room it wasn't time to talk about what was happening between them.

* * *

Honesty can be conveyed through different kinds of language. Through words, a look or a touch, together these aspects of communication can send a clear and concise signal, especially to one who is clearly on the same page.

It was coming down to it, Danny and Lindsay needed to be honest to each other so finally, once and for all the intensity of their attraction could be realized.

* * *

**AN** Yeah that was long, I blame it on all the great scenes in that ep that I didn't want to forget…anyway…it's progressing people…they are so close…just stick with me a bit longer…oh dang I just made a glue joke…Danny affects me too much! lol 


	12. Intensity

**AN** I know it has been WAY too long for me to add another chapter and with the last two episodes giving me a lot to go on I have some fun ideas for this story...however I do need to finish off their evening finally so here it is. It's a bit of filler and I'm sorry if it's not up to par with what you have been reading...but it will get better! Anyway...please read and review!

* * *

**Intensity**

If they were going to admit anything Danny and Lindsay would probably agree that what they were feeling was intense. It was rapidly turning into something that was not only thought but practiced. That had changed the moment Danny had kissed her. There was no doubt for either of them that they were attracted to each other.

The doubt came when they thought about the repercussions of possibly giving into the intensity to satiate the desire that coursed through each of them.

* * *

Mac watched Danny and Lindsay interact and sighed to himself. He had to admit he had seen this coming, but that didn't mean he had to like it right away. He waited until Lindsay stood to leave their table for a few minutes. He had to at least warn Danny to think twice before he did anything stupid. Danny was fiercely loyal, something Mac actually admired in the kid, but he was also fiercely closed off. Not a lot of people got close to Danny and Mac didn't want to see Lindsay hurt from one of Danny's classic defense mechanism moments. 

Lindsay had kept her legs under Danny's chair the whole time they sat and watched Mac's set. She leaned forward and flashed him a smile as the last song came to a close, "I'll be right back." She said as she stood.

He nodded, "I'll be right here." There was a battle going on in his mind, part of it was desperate to satiate an urge that had been rapidly working it's way through his system while the other part of his mind was adamant that this whole thing was going to blow up in his face.

She put her hand on his arm drawing him out of his reverie, leaning in close to his face she whispered, "Then we can leave and have that talk."

Damn. When she did shit like that any caution he had was shot all to hell and consumed by a desire that was familiar yet all together different. He reacted before he thought and put a hand over hers, "You know this whole forward thing you're doing?" He had to lean back a bit to make eye contact with her, she just stared at him her beautiful brown eyes wide, so he squeezed her hand and whispered with a smirk, "It's damn hot."

She inhaled slowly and stepped away from him, not because she wanted to be away from him but because she knew if she stayed too close she'd do something inappropriate for a public place. The heat that ran through her body at that moment could have sparked a flame.

He was smiling to himself as she walked away when his demeanor suddenly changed. He didn't need to see him to know his boss was there, "I didn't know you played bass Mac." He said trying to keep it light, "You're good."

Mac regarded the younger man with a nod of thanks, "I didn't expect to see you here," he paused then had to add, "with Lindsay."

Danny sighed, "She invited me cause she wanted to shock me with the fact that you actually do something outside of the lab."

"Danny I've been watching you two, don't insult me with we're just co-workers crap." Mac's tone took on an agitated edge that it tended to with Danny.

He got up to leave because he didn't want to get pulled into a discussion about something he was still unsure of himself, "Afraid I'm gonna distract your star pupil?"

"This isn't about me Danny," Mac said, "It's about the integrity of the lab."

"Uh huh and you figure I'm gonna contaminate a crime scene with Lindsay by what...having sex on the clock?" Danny glared at his boss, "You go right ahead and think I'm that crass but don't insult Lindsay by putting her in the same category."

This was rapidly descending into one of their more heated discussions and Mac was taken aback by Danny's concern for what he thought about Lindsay. "Listen I'm just worried..."

Danny cut him off, "...I know, that'll I'll fuck it up," he threw some bills onto the table and turned to leave, looking over his shoulder at Mac, "So am I." He brushed passed Lindsay on the way out and didn't even acknowledge that he had seen her.

Looking over at Danny and that back at Mac who was still standing by their table Lindsay weighed her options. From the look on Danny's face he most likely needed to calm down so she walked over to her boss and raised an eyebrow, "Did I miss all the drama?" She asked.

Sitting down Mac gestured for Lindsay to do the same, which she did. He smiled at a waitress who brought him the scotch on the rocks that he usually drank after a gig. He swirled the liquid in his glass and ran the last few minutes over in his mind before looking up at Lindsay who patiently waited for him to speak. Finally he said, "I'm constantly underestimating him."

Surprised by the admission Lindsay couldn't help but give in to the curiosity, "I don't understand, from what I've seen you trust him implicitly."

"Looks can be deceiving," Mac said then retracted, "I didn't mean..." He ran a hand over his face, "I do trust him, he's just...he can be unpredictable."

Lindsay smiled and leaned back, "So he doesn't fit into your rather well ordered world." She observed.

It was something that Stella would say so it took a moment for Mac to let the words register, reluctantly he nodded, "Honestly sometimes I envy his tenacity."

"He tries hard to please you," Lindsay said, "you two remind me of my brother and my dad." She smiled, "Way too alike and way too stubborn to admit it."

Taking a swig of his drink Mac finally smiled, "I knew I was wise to hire you, now you should probably follow him." He indicated the door with with a nod of his head. "he'll need to talk to you."

Swallowing Lindsay was uncomfortable with the unspoken acknowledgment of what was happening between her and Danny, "We're still...kinda..." She inhaled, "working out whatever this is."

Mac waved it away, "Just keep it out of my lab."

She nodded and stood to gather her things, "Of course."

Walking passed him she was startled when he touched her arm, "I am constantly misinterpreting him, but I'm pretty sure he cares about you."

She gulped, "Uh...thanks." She hurried out of the bar and almost welcomed the cool winter air that hit her. Wrapping her arms around herself she walked down the street a bit mulling over what exactly was happening. She saw him leaning against the alcove of a building about a block down from the pub. His back was against the wall and his head was down, he shivered in spite of himself and this just made her want to wrap her arms around him.

Danny recognized the sound of her footfall on the pavement and looked up at her, "So did Daddy warn you to stay away from the big bad gangster?" He asked bitterly.

She cocked her head to the side and regarded him for a moment, "No he told me to go after you." She finally said.

"Mac did?"

"Yup and I've done some thinking." She continued.

"You have?" He was still shocked that Mac had said that.

She licked her lips, "We don't want to do anything stupid."

He agreed, "No we don't."

"The fact of the matter is we work together and bringing a personal relationship into the lab would be bad for the lab and worse for us."

He nodded but still had no idea where she was going with this, "Right."

"So then the question is," She stepped toward him and put her hands on his arms, "how long can we ignore this..." She brought her lips to his in a tentative kiss.

There was no question in his mind at this point, he put one arm around her bringing her body closer to his and let his other hand get tangled in her hair. He tilted his head to the side and deepened the kiss running his tongue over her lips in an effort to gain more access to the taste of her.

She groaned in spite of herself and gripped his jacket tightly with both of her hands. She was getting completely lost when he pulled back a bit and spoke against her mouth, "I'm putting you in a cab."

Pulling her head back so she could fulling regard him she raised an eyebrow in question, "You're what now?"

He smiled and pulled her to the curb. With one arm around her waist he whistled and motioned for a cab to stop. He looked down at her and opened the door, leaning down he gave the cabbie her address then dropped a quick kiss on her mouth. "If I don't send you home now I'm going to take you home and we both know that's not a good idea."

Her mind was racing to beat her hormones, finally she nodded, "Actually it's a great idea," She gripped his jacket and kissed him, "but you're right, it's probably not smart."

"So have we talked about this?" He asked as she got into the cab.

She looked up, "Do you want to see me outside of work again?" She asked.

He grinned, "You know I just might."

"Do you want to ignore..." She trailed off and indicated the fact that he was still holding one of her hands.

He let go and kept grinning, "Not so much."

She smiled back at him and grabbed a hold of the door handle, "Then yeah, we've talked about it. I'll see you tomorrow."

Danny shook his head as he watched the cab pull into traffic. He licked his lips and almost groaned because he could still taste her. He had more of an idea what was going on now and even though it was different and it scared him he was looking forward to whatever this could be.

Hailing another cab he got in and went home.

* * *

The dictionary describes intensity as: an extreme degree of strength, force, energy, or feeling. If Danny or Lindsay where to describe their own situation they would use all of these words. It was their strength that kept them from doing anything stupid. It was the force of their attraction that kept them coming back to each other. It was the energy they created that fueled the feeling of intensity. At the rate they were going nothing was going to stop them...even themselves. 


	13. Electricity

**AN **Okay guys I wanted to get this out sooner than later cause I was so mean to make you wait for chapter 12...I suppose I should put the 'Fare Game' spoilers warning in here...there's some dialog from that ep in here...it'll be the stuff that's about bugs...lol Now even though I didn't make you wait as long I still want reviews...oh and I need to sing the praises of **hogwartsalumni** who has faithfully been my beta for this story.

* * *

**Electricity**

Simply put most need electricity in their every day lives just to make all the giggits and gadgets work. Metaphorically electricity is an adequate description of a strong attraction between two people, something that Danny and Lindsay had finally established.

Due to their jobs and the limited hours in one day following their last encounter outside of the lab they have been forced to rely on the various electronic items to maintain their electric connection.

* * *

Lindsay checked her watch as she stepped into the elevator at work. It was 7:30am which meant she was a full half hour early for her shift so she decided to check her email before working on some of the paperwork that was piling up. She sipped her coffee and grimaced at the bitter taste as the computer booted up. She clicked a few buttons, typed in her password and browsed through her email. There were three from her favorite aunt, two from her best friend and about thirty that told her they could enlarge...well they were spam. 

It was ten to eight when she finished typing up her responses. She could have started in on her paperwork early but she decided to email Danny instead. She hadn't seen or heard from him in a handful of days. Sure they had seen each other at work, but most of their conversation had consisted of greetings and cases discussion. She found she missed the flirty banter they had gotten themselves into before they had kissed and made it all real.

So throwing caution to the wind she wrote:

_Hey you,  
__Would you please stay out of my dreams? I'm becoming sleep deprived and frankly it's just a tease.  
__L_

She hesitated for a moment then just hit send before she talked herself into being paranoid about what he'd think. His shift didn't start till noon so she had a few hours to make herself scarce. As if on cue Stella knocked on the door, "Am I interrupting anything?"

Exiting her email Lindsay smiled up at Stella, "Nope just about to tackle some paperwork."

"You wouldn't mind if I stole you from that and dragged you into the field with me would you?" Stella asked with a smile.

Lindsay was already up which made Stella laugh, "I will happily take any excuse to avoid paperwork, what's up?"

"I have a break in that has turned into a sexual assault as well. I need all the help I can get." Stella explained as they walked down the hall and into her office so she could explain the case to Lindsay.

When Danny made his way into the lab Lindsay and Stella had been at their scene for a couple of hours and it looked like they were going to spend the rest of the day there. Checking his watch Danny pulled open his locker and shrugged off his jacket. A post it fluttered its way to his feet. He picked it up and looked at it curiously...it just told him to check his email. He shrugged to himself and went to the break room to get a coffee before he appeased his curiosity and followed the note's instructions.

He couldn't even stop his damn heart from doing that thing it did whenever he thought about Lindsay. Seeing her name in his inbox made him smile and want to smack himself for acting like a high school kid. He opened it and found himself laughing out loud. He shook his head and hit reply:

_Hey back,  
__You wanna talk dreams Monroe? I could regale you for hours, verbally or not, you choose. Txt me when you get back to the lab.  
__D_

He clicked send then jumped when Hawkes spoke over his shoulder, "Now who could you be emailing that would put that kind of smile on your face?"

"None of your business Hawkes," Danny quickly exited his email and turned to look at his friend, "What do you want?"

"The pleasure of your company at the scene of a car jacking." He smacked Danny with a file, "Unless of course you want to stay here and flirt electronically with random females."

"Shut up." Danny stood, "What have we got?" He opened the file and walked out of the room not even looking at Hawkes, who just smirked.

Lindsay didn't get back to the lab till seven, three hours after her shift had ended, and she debated just leaving but figured she'd check her email before she left. She had to know if Danny had read what she had sent. She chuckled to herself when she read his response and had a rather large smile on her face as she walked to the elevator and pulled out her phone.

"What's she beaming about?" Flack asked Mac as they walked to the Lieutenant's office.

Mac had an idea but feigned ignorance, "Probably happy she gets to go home...now tell me what you know about Harry Keats."

Danny pulled his phone out of his pocket as Hawkes drove them back to the lab.

_CountryGirl: Regale me huh?_

He smiled and punched in some buttons then sent his response.

_Messer: Oh yeah...I can be inspirational._

Lindsay actually found herself giggling and she didn't care. She waited till she got home to respond.

_CountryGirl: Well I'm properly intrigued._

Danny and Hawkes were heading to Mac's office to tell their boss about their day. He read the message smiled then pocketed his phone.

"You have that smile again." Hawkes observed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Danny said holding the door open for his friend.

Hawkes continued, "It's the same smile you had this morning, who is she?"

"I'm sorry did you mistake my office for a hair salon?" Mac asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Danny gave Mac a smile of thanks, "Naw we came to tell you what we found, turns out the vic was a teacher and one of her students wanted to scare her into giving him an A..." After the debriefing he ducked out of Mac's office and headed to the locker room hoping to avoid an interrogation from Hawkes.

Stella called for him to hold the elevator as he was leaving. He did so and smiled when she ran in, "Didn't you start at eight Stell?"

She smiled at him, "Crime doesn't sleep."

"Yeah well you should, I hear wrinkles can form from sleep deprivation." He said with a smirk.

She shook her finger at him and laughed, "You sure know what to say to make a woman feel good about herself."

He winked, "You're beautiful and you know it."

She grinned, "Maybe, but I still like to hear it every now and again."

"Do I need to find that sculptor boyfriend of yours and tell him how to treat you properly?" He asked as they stepped off the elevator.

She put an arm around him and squeezed his side, "He treats me just fine, thanks for your concern."

He patted her hand, "See you tomorrow Stell." He turned and walked in the opposite direction of her.

"Bye Danny," She called then pulled out her phone and called Frankie.

Lindsay had just flipped the TV on after having a bath and a couple glasses of wine she was decidedly quite relaxed when her phone rang. The number was blocked so she almost didn't answer, but curiosity got the best of her so she picked up on the fourth ring, "Hello?"

"How big is your apartment?"

Recognizing his voice she laughed, "Why do you want to know that?"

"Well it's gotta be huge for it to take you that long to answer your phone." He said as he leaned back in his favorite recliner and took a long drink of his beer.

"I was trying to decide if I should risk answering it since the number came up blocked."

"I had to do that after someone stalked me when I called a wrong number." He said.

She laughed again, "What? Someone stalked you after you called a wrong number?" She was incredulous.

He chuckled, "Yeah she said something about my voice being sexy. I dunno, she called me for two weeks and then I had my number changed."

"You mean you weren't curious to meet her?" Lindsay asked settling into the sofa and flipping off the TV.

"Nah, I did a check on her with her number, saw her driver's license picture..." He trailed off.

Lindsay grinned, "Ah she was a bit on the woof side?"

He laughed, "See now if I had said that you would think I was an ass."

"You think guys are the only once who go for aesthetically pleasing?"

"Are you telling me you find me aesthetically pleasing?"

"You answered my question with a question."

"You didn't answer mine at all. Dreamer."

"Speaking of dreams...I believe you said you'd regale me."

"Hmm, I dunno if we're ready for that type of regaling just yet." He held his breath hoping she didn't disregard that statement.

"You're probably right." She agreed, "So tell me, how was the car-jacking?"

* * *

The rest of the week followed that pattern. They both worked different shifts but managed to find time to email, txt message or call throughout the day. On a day when they finally had the same shift and talked about going out afterwards Danny was working with Hawkes and Lt. Maka on a strange death involving interesting cuisine. Lindsay was working with Stella, Mac and Flack on a death involving a weird assassination game and a body in a cemetery. 

Danny walked knocked on the glass door of Mac's office and waited for his boss to indicate he could enter, "Hey boss, you feeling brave tonight?" He asked as he lifted up a bag with various food containers in it.

Mac raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "What have you got there?"

"Well, you know the case Hawkes and I were working?" Danny said with a grin.

Trying not to recoil in horror Mac pointed his pen at the bag, "You're telling me there is insect cuisine in that bag?"

"The finest kind," Danny said with a laugh, "I've got everyone meeting in the break room in ten minutes, wanna come?"

Already moving around his desk Mac shook his head with a smile, "No one is going to want to eat that, save probably Lindsay."

"What makes you think Lindsay is gonna eat bugs?" Danny asked with a smirk, "She probably gets people to kill spiders for her."

"You may be surprised at what she can stomach." Mac said, "I bet you five bucks she'll at least try something."

Danny's eyes widened, "You serious?"

"Am I ever not?" Mac extended his hand with a smirk.

"Good point." Danny took the man's hand and shook it firmly, "She won't touch it."

"I'll be right there." Mac said then shook his head as Danny left the office with a wave.

Ten minutes later everyone was congregated in the break room watching Danny pull various things out of the bag. There was already a number of things on one of the tables. Hawkes was smirking while Stella stared at it incredulously as Danny spoke.

"Alright I got meal worm spaghetti, stink bug pate, that's nice, cricket croquets, raised ant brochette, thai dragon flies...who's goin' first?" He said rubbing his hands together, relishing the attention as he was want to do.

Stella scrunched up her nose in disgust as the meal worms crawled their way out of the container they were in and wiggled on the table, "You gotta be kidding."

Flack was frankly disgusted and stayed near the door as if one of the breaded tarantula's was going to crawl at him, "Pass."

Lindsay looked at the food with curiosity. She was slightly put off by the moving food but wasn't about to let Danny have his moment alone. She reached for one of the deep fried breaded spiders and said with a shrug, "It's just protein."

Mac stepped forward with a bemused smile and tapped Danny's shoulder, "Told ya she'd do it."

Danny watched Lindsay chewing and chuckled, "Alright, alright, alright." He had the fiver in his pocket cause after making the bet he had a strong notion that he'd lose. He pulled out the folded bill and offered it to Mac, "Here you go."

Mac grinned and turned to walk away, "Okay pizza in my office."

The rest of the room still slightly disgusted by the fact that Lindsay hadn't thrown up the spider followed Mac out of the room. Hawkes lingered and stared at the two then followed the rest to Mac's office, already having had his stomach churn from watching Danny chew on a centipede earlier that day.

Still chewing Lindsay smiled at Danny, "You bet Mac I wouldn't do it?" He looked rather adorable standing there with his hands in his pockets watching her.

Danny laughed and pulled out the chair to sit down next to her, "Yeah what was I thinkin', betting against a country girl."

She took another bite, "You know it's actually not that bad."

Still bemused with the idea that she was actually eating the stuff Danny reached for another container, "Well try it with some, grasshopper chutney." He put it in front of her.

Dipping the delicacy into the sauce she took another bite, "Mmm, mhmm."

She was too damn cute and he was finding it hard not to just stare at her so he reached for another item, "Wasp tamale?"

Chuckling Lindsay took one, "Don't mind if I do."

Reaching into the squirming bunch Danny commented, "Spaghetti meal worms, are the best." He dropped his arm on the back of her chair and chewed, they were actually better than that one centipede he'd had earlier.

Lindsay laughed and leaned into him a bit, "I hear Sheldon hatched you some snacks earlier this afternoon."

Danny grimaced and took a bite of her tamale, "Would you believe the chef actually suggested it tasted like chicken?"

She looked at him, "Not so much huh?"

"Let's just say if someone would have given me a shot of anything I would have downed it right then," He shuddered.

They ate in silence for about ten minutes. Finally putting down what was left of her breaded tarantula, Lindsay patted his leg, "So, are you gonna take me out for a beer to wash this down?"

He wiped his fingers on a napkin and smirked, "I guess I am."

"Good cause I need to get this bug taste outta my mouth." She stood helped him put the containers back into the bag.

"I could help you with that, minus the cost of beer." He said with a grin.

She blushed, "I'm sure you could, let's start with beer though."

He nodded, "Right, lead the way." He indicated the open door.

* * *

Some need a spark to get a relationship going...Danny and Lindsay had so much electricity, they needed a switch to calm it down. Or at least a timer, so that it burned at the right time. 

Soon they would realize that they had more than electricity, they had an actual relationship.


	14. Habit

**AN** I apologize profusely for the ever long wait here…honestly I had the first bit of this chapter done months ago but for some reason I couldn't get past one part and didn't know where I wanted to take it…anyway…here it is…there are a couple more as I kinda wanna align them with the season and such…we'll see how it goes.

Anyway there are 'Cool Hunter' spoilers in here if you haven't seen that ep yet…thanks in advance for all your patience.

* * *

**Habit**

It can be an addiction or a compulsion. Habits can be bad or good and they are formed every day. One could probably think of many people who, bit their nails, smoked, drank coffee...it didn't take much for a habit to form.

Lindsay had a habit of nibbling on the thumb of her left hand when she was concentrating or reading a file. She'd also run that particular thumb over her bottom lip sometimes leaving it there as she read.

It drove Danny crazy.

Danny would drum his fingers when he was thinking. Sometimes he tapped his knee, other times he'd run his fingers on the arm of a chair as though playing them like an instrument. The best times though were when he'd inadvertently run his fingers on her arm or her thigh if he was sitting next to her, while they were working.

He claimed it was innocent, but she knew better.

Now if only they could get out of the habit of letting work take over their lives.

* * *

Lindsay ran into Danny in the locker room while they were both working separate cases. He was quite dressed down for being at work. The light jacket hung open on his shoulders and he was wiping his face with a towel. If she hadn't been sure she was at work she'd have thought he'd been working out. 

"Is there a new office dress down policy I haven't heard about?" She asked looking him up and down mentally reminding herself that while they had established that they wanted to see each other outside of work, it still hadn't happened yet. Him standing there sweating in a white tank top, casual pants and sneakers was making it glaringly obvious to her that this needed to happen soon.

He reached into his locker and pulled out a bottle of water to take a drink before answering her, "I will have you know that I just kicked a kid's ass three times at handball to get a witness testimony for my case. Plus," He held up a pair of gloves, "I have a reference point to some trace we found on our vic's shirt."

"Well then aren't you dedicated to getting the job done." Good lord he looked good.

"Whatever it takes," He said with a grin, he saw what she was doing, subtly wasn't really her strong point right then not that he cared, if she wanted to stare at him she was welcome to.

"Good then I need you for an experiment," She said walking into the locker room to take the bottle of water out of his hand and drink from it. She had to move, do something, he was making her fidgety.

He watched her and shook his head, he hated when people did that, how did she make it cute? "Experiment?" He looked intrigued, "Why don't you get Mac to do it, isn't he on the case with you?"

"Because," She handed him the water, "You fit the profile and I frankly would rather it be you."

He raised his eyebrows, "What's in it for me?"

"The satisfaction of helping out a co-worker." She suggested.

He smirked at her and reached into his locker for the stuff he'd need to take a shower, "I'm suddenly feeling my schedule fill up."

She leaned in and whispered precariously close to his ear, "Does the idea of drinks, on me, clear up your schedule?"

He looked down at her and licked his lips then reminded himself that they were at work he nodded and cleared his throat, "Uh yeah, yeah all of a sudden I have tons of time."

She stepped away from him and patted his arm lightly, "Meet me at my crime scene in half an hour." She walked out of the locker room with a big smile on her face; he hadn't even asked what the experiment was.

* * *

"You want me to wear these shoes?" He asked accepting them from the tech they had brought with them. 

Lindsay nodded and started explaining their case to him as he tied up the shoes. "I need you in Dr. Zimmer's shoes because the plaster casts that I got from the suspect's footprints were about half an inch deeper in the heel than they were in the toe, which is odd."

He nodded and looked at the box. He was starting to figure out what she had him here to do. He looked over at her then couldn't help but smile when she stepped toward him and put an arm up on his shoulder. Oh so he had to pick her up, interesting. He did so.

Most of her mind was reminding her that she really, really had to focus on the case, "I weigh about the same as the victim, you weigh about the same as," She looked at him, gawd he was close. Do not focus on kissing him Monroe, she berated herself and continued, "Dr. Zimmer," She paused again as the tech put the weight on her lap. "Thanks," She smirked at the look Danny gave the guy, "extra weight makes it exact." She explained.

Danny looked over at the planter, "Look, you promised me drinks for this, but I think I'm gonna need some dinner too." Not that he was minding at all, he hadn't held her in any capcity in way longer than he cared to think.

Lindsay smiled at him, "I'm not gonna give you anything if you don't get going, make tracks cowboy."

Oh yeah he was gonna get something for this. He set her down after he had carried her over the planter, "Cowboy?" He smirked, she just smiled and reached for her camera just as his cell rang, "It's Hawkes, are we done here?"

"Yeah," She nodded, "For now."

He winked and started walking away, "You let me know when I can collect my payment." He pointed before pulling open the door to get to the bottom of the building.

The tech gave Lindsay a look, she shrugged, "I need another battery for the camera." Focus on the job, that's all she had to do for now, focus on the job.

She called Danny later and left him a message to meet her at water hole regulated by their office. She left work without seeing him again and wondered what it was she was doing. She found the more she was around him the more comfortable she got and it was rather unnerving.

* * *

Danny met up with Hawkes at the lab after he and Stella had brought in their killer. "You wanna grab a beer?" Hawkes asked, "Celebrate getting this guy in record time?" 

"Can't," Danny said heading for the locker room, "I have a date."

Hawkes leaned against the door frame, "Who is it this time?"

"Lindsay." Danny said matter of factly as he reached for his jacket and shut his locker door.

"Monroe?" Hawkes' eye's shot up in surprise.

"This shocks you?"

"Well kinda, I never pegged her as the type to fall for your..." Hawkes trailed off.

"Charm?" Danny asked with a grin.

"Game." Hawkes said instead.

Danny frowned and walked passed his friend, "This isn't a game." He said and headed out. He was nervous, way more nervous than he had been when he was meeting her at Cozy's. This was entirely different, what exactly was he allowing himself to do?

* * *

Many focus on habits that are bad trying desperately to break them so as to better their life. What happens when a habit is beneficial to you? For Danny and Lindsay the habit of spending time together, talking to each and opening up was changing their prospective views of the world. Little did they know that in the coming weeks they were going to need each other like never before. The habits that they were forming were going to be the staple for them to get through situations they never thought they'd have to face.

* * *

**AN** I know it's ambiguous...I really do have a plan...just trying to stay in the game here. lol


	15. Memory

**AN:** Remember me?? Yeah sorry it took so dang long for an update. I have new inspiration this season so I'm bringing it in line with that…this is the bridge chapter…I hope to God it actually works. Being the review whore I am please let me know:)

* * *

**Memory**

In a classic dictionary definition one can find memory defined as: the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc., or of recalling or recognizing previous experiences.

Lindsay and Danny would probably define memory as a damn pain in the neck. Over the last few months enough had happened to them collectively that both of their minds were overloaded with memories. The unfortunate thing was neither had time to even remotely explore whatever their relationship had been and, for lack of a better term, all of those moments were most like a memory.

It tickled the backs of their minds from time to time like a good memory is want to do. It sat in their subconscious, leaking into their dreams like a slow dripping faucet…reminding them that at some point the touch that had ignited the chemistry between them so long ago was going to need to be addressed.

* * *

There had been many visits to the hospital for various reasons. Danny was almost nervous to wake up in the morning for fear of another reason to visit a hospital or dress for a funeral. His best friend, his brother and his closest female friend all injured in various ways one including death. Life without Aiden in it was difficult to picture but he had to.

Now if only Lindsay would make sense, if only she would fit into his life, into his mind as seamlessly as the pain. But she didn't; she'd just rest in the back of it like this beautiful memory of what could have been…if life hadn't hauled up and slapped them in the face.

It had been perfect, after Lindsay had wrapped up her case they had gone with the intent of meeting for dinner, but on the way there Mac called them both separately with different cases so they had to postpone. That had happened a few more times until they just stopped trying. It bothered Danny to no end because there had been so much potential, he could tell, he knew the chemistry he had been feeling wasn't an act it just seemed that work was not conducive to them being together.

Then why didn't her touch leave his mind? He would think about it a lot. Some days he'd lean back at his desk and close his eyes remembering that night after Cozy's when they'd shared that kiss. Or the first time they had kissed in the parking lot. It had been so long since there was any kind of contact that wasn't of a professional nature that he almost thought those kisses had been a dream.

Lindsay walked by Danny's desk and watched him as he leaned back his eyes closed a small smile playing on his lips. Oh his lips, those lips haunted her to no end. Sometimes if she tried really hard she didn't think about them, but it usually didn't last especially when she was around him. He'd still placed his tongue gently on his bottom lip if he was concentrating on something or purse his lips before voicing a thought on a case and every time it drove her nuts.

They had started something, they had been there--SO on the verge of being more to each other than just coworkers. Now, with all that had happened at the office and some things that had been happening closer to home, Lindsay was almost glad that nothing had been fulfilled. It was probably better this way. Danny didn't need someone like her clouding his life; it was full enough as it was. So as they entered the autumn end of the year Lindsay was coming to the decision that their interaction, anything they had been to each other should remain a beautiful memory.

Now if only he wasn't Danny Messer, undeniably the biggest physical and emotional draw she had ever encountered in her life. Getting over him would be her biggest accomplishment, or worst nightmare.

* * *

She closed her eyes and sighed then turned to walk away from looking at Danny; forcing herself to go back to work. She walked smack into Don Flack, "Getting an eyeful Monroe?" He asked knowing exactly what she had been doing.

"Mind your own business Don." Lindsay snapped then quickly headed down the hall feeling her cheeks burn in embarrassment. Sometimes she hated the affect that Danny Messer had on her, other times she really wished she could do something about it. Again.

"So I have a problem." Flack leaned against the door going into Danny's office.

"Besides the fact that your battle scar hasn't yielded one date for you yet?" Danny said with a smirk not opening his eyes just yet hoping Flack would go away.

He didn't, "Har har, you're a funny man; I was on the brink of death you know." Flack walked into the room and fingered an evidence bag.

Danny opened his eyes and pulled the bag out of his reach, "Yes I know. Why is it again that you didn't follow the big bright light?" Joking about it was really the only way the two of them had talked about it.

"Someone had to stay here and keep you in line." Flack punched Danny's arm and leaned against the desk.

"One day in the very far out future I'm going to tell Aiden that I won that pull." Danny quipped.

Both men were silent for a moment thinking about their friend knowing she would have got the joke. Flack finally cleared his throat, "Anyway I came here with a problem."

"What's that?" Danny asked finally noticing that his friend was holding a magazine.

Flack dropped the magazine on the table in front of his friend, "Of all people I never thought YOU would be mentioned in Maxim."

"What?!" Danny saw that Shaheena was on the cover and his heart fell to his feet.

"Honestly I think I'm hurt," Flack continued as Danny leafed through to the article, "She didn't say a damn thing about me and I thought she wanted to bang me too."

He looked up to glare at Flack before continuing to skim the article. He started reading out loud, "Even superstars can have fantasies, Shaheena admits that she fantasizes about a…" He paused.

Flack was trying desperately not to laugh out loud he saw Adam walking by and motioned for him to come into the room, "Come on you're just getting to the good part."

But Danny couldn't read it, he threw the mag down, "Oh that's just great." As if on cue his phone started ringing, "Hello?"

Picking up the mag Flack tried to read through his laughter, "Shaheena admits that she fantasizes about a certain New York city police officer who helped put the former president of her fan club behind bars for murder. She says quote: "Danny Messer has insane sex appeal and I wish we could have gotten to know each other better." She concedes that while many men fantasise about her, at least she has a face for her own fantasies."

Adam's eyes were wide, "You are shitting me, let me read that!" He grabbed the mag out of Flack's hand, "Oh damn that woman is not wearing a wet t-shirt. Friggin' hell Messer!"

Danny held his hand up trying to stop them from being so loud so he could listen to his phone, "I don't know how you got this phone number but I have no comment about Shaheena or whatever she has to say." Just as he hung up it rang again, angrily he turned answered, "What?" He growled.

Mac sighed, "Something wrong Danny?"

Instantly sober he waved at Flack and Adam who had called over some more lab techs to check out the article, "No sorry I thought you were someone else. What's up?"

"I need you to get Lindsay and go check a smash and grab at a pawn shop."

Danny groaned, "That's rookie work." Mac had already hung up, he pushed passed the rowdies.

"Aren't you gonna sign my copy for me?" Flack called after him.

Growling something unintelligible Danny walked faster down the hall away from them. He found Lindsay at her desk pouring over some files, "Hey Montana, you're with me." He instructed.

She looked up at him, "Do I look like a pedigree of some kind?"

The fire behind her brown eyes instantly soften him, his shoulders relaxed and he managed a sheepish smile, "Mac called and said we were on a smash and grab."

A smile brightened her face as she stood, "Thank you." She watched as a lab tech walked by and gave Danny two thumbs up. "What was that about?"

He shook his head, "Nothing."

She didn't want to push it so she changed the subject, "So a smash and grab isn't that rookie work?"

Lindsay had noticed that while they were gathering evidence that Danny's phone had been ringing off the hook. She had also noticed that he hadn't answered once. "You certainly are popular today." She commented on the way back.

He shrugged, "Wrong number."

Whatever was going on with him she had long since decided that pushing him didn't work. In fact she had figured out a lot about him in the last few months. Since they hadn't established anything concrete about their 'relationship' she hadn't known what to do when Louie had been beaten. So she brought him the tape to let him hear that Louie had done it to clear Danny. Then when Aiden died she really felt like she didn't have any authority to comfort him. Short of hanging out with the team while they remembered her Lindsay had stayed away from him on that topic. When Flack had been in surgery they had comforted each other somewhat but again it was more Danny because Flack was his best friend.

And then just when Lindsay was going to go over to his place and basically force him to deal with the amount of pain he would obviously be in Lindsay got a blast from the past the propelled her to stop any way of connecting with Danny. As the days crept on she kept hoping that they could go back to the innocent flirting that had happened before that touch. She needed to deal with this problem on her own and she was deathly afraid that the closer she got to him the more vulnerable she would have to be and she couldn't do that…not yet.

If Danny hadn't been so consumed with trying to figure out what to do about the Shaheena article he would have noticed Lindsay contemplative state. He hadn't missed the fact that she had pulled away from him lately. To tell the truth he was a little relieved. He had been dreading her forcing him to deal with some of the pain that had enveloped him over the summer. He didn't think he was ready to let her that close just yet, he had hardly figured out what he'd felt when Stella had been attacked and threw their whole lab out of sync.

As soon as they walked into the lab there on the glass office right by the elevator was the picture of Shaheena from the Maxim mag and photo of Danny with an arrow that said underneath, "Insane sex appeal."

Lindsay had to remember to blink before she stepped forward to read the article. Danny wrung his hands together and watched not sure if he should start explaining that he had nothing to with it when she turned around and smirked at him, "She took my line." Was all she said before she calmly ripped the article off the glass, crumpled it up and threw it in a nearby trash can.

He grinned his first genuine smile since that morning and looped an arm around her shoulders their comfortable camaraderie back, even if only for a moment, "You're all right Montana." He said as they walked down the hall.

* * *

Memory is a finiky thing, it plays with the mind, contorting thought from reality. They both knew that the chemistry that had felt all those months back was real. However, both, silently knew it had to be a memory, if only for the time being.

At least that's what Lindsay hoped.


End file.
